The Edible Roof: A Guide to Productive Rooftop Gardening

Abstract

Many high-rise city dwellers have a strong desire to grow their own vegetables and contribute to a more sustainable urban life style, but lack the space and knowledge to do so. ‘Edible Roof’ is the product of the author’s two year research study into the unique environmental and technical challenges of growing productive plants on rooftops in Hong Kong. It is based on the HKU Edible Roof that was constructed on the Runme Shaw Building by a team from the Division of Landscape Architecture, and is now operated under the HKU Urban Farming initiative. Whether interested individuals and community groups are activating an unutilized grey roof space to build a completely new rooftop farm or converting an existing ornamental green roof to sustainable vegetable production, the textbook provides comprehensive guide to creating and managing the whole project and as a technical reference for tackling specific issues. The approaches and techniques described can be applied to almost any roof space, from a few planters to an extensive productive garden across a large scale industrial roof deck.