About Me

Creating A Fun, Safe Garden For Your Children

As the mum of five young children, I know how important it is to have access to a safe outdoor space for your children to play. Being cooped up in the house all day isn't good for the kids or the parents, but you also can't let young kids play in a space that's hazardous. When we bought our new family home, there was a lot of work to do in the garden to make it childproof, and we also wanted to make it a fun place for the kids to play. We erected a new fence, fitted a combination lock on the garden gate, had poisonous plants removed, cordoned off the pool and created a play area complete with swings, a slide and outdoor games. I started this blog to share my DIY gardening tips, and I hope you find it interesting and useful.

Search

Archive

Latest Posts

Creating A Fun, Safe Garden For Your Children

House Designs: Going Green On Your Roof

by Darlene Jenkins

Green roofing (growing vegetation on rooftops) is a common trend nowadays when it comes to roof designs, and this is not just down to its aesthetic purposes but also due to its numerous benefits. Heat insulation, sound absorption and air quality improvements are some of these benefits. The only downside of green roofing is its high cost of maintenance, which is also the factor that is making some people avoid to it. However, there is a way in which you can cut down these costs.

How To Cut Down The High Costs of Maintaining A Green Roof

According to Jock Gammon, founder of Junglefy, it is all about selecting the right plants; grow indigenous and natural looking plants, or practice the art of mixing different species of plants. By mixing different types of plants, you are encouraging some plants to act as colonizers, something that will help the plants that are slower in growth to establish quickly.  This not only leads to a better biodiversity but also to a lower cost of maintenance.

Another tip regarding plant selection from botanical expert Casey Boyter is to try as much as possible to grow plants that can survive different types of weather. When it is too hot, you need a drought-tolerant plant that will survive through the heat. But at some point, the rain will come back, and maybe it will rain heavily. At this moment, you need a plant that can weather the destructive effects of the rain by absorbing large chunks of water. Plantations that can survive in both situations will reduce your need of irrigation, and hence your cost of maintenance. 

Why You Should Go For A Green Roof Design

  • Noise Reduction – Outside noise can be a more of a nuisance at times, particularly when the noise is too high. However, when you install an extensive green roof in your house, you may cut the noise by about 40 decibels. An intensive green roof can reduce the sound by 46 to 50 decibels. Decibel is the unit for measuring sound.  
  • Fire Retardation – Compared to conventional roofs, green roofs have a lower burning heat load -- the heat produced when a substance is burning. Due to this property, they are better at preventing the spread of fire than conventional roofs.
  • Reduction Of Electromagnetic Radiation –A question of the past regarding the effects of electromagnetic radiation on human health still divides opinions today. But no matter your view, you can protect yourself from the radiation by going for a green roof as it has the capability of reducing the penetration of electromagnetic radiation by 99.4%.

Share