Planting on neglected roof terrace

[Goosethemoose]

I’ve got a rather sad “illegal roof terrace”, basically a flat roof that has a safe access point. It has a couple of planters already with goodness knows what in, and a load of small (15cm diameter? 20?) empty pots that I’d like to pop something in to, to add some greenery/colour. It’s Southeast facing and shaded from probably 3-4pm at this time of year? I don’t want to go out much, for safety reasons. I presume it’s windy as exposed on two sides and is at third floor height. Would be nice to have some colour/greenery through the winter also.

What should I put out there..? Total novice!

Google balcony planting ideas. I think if you can put bigger pots or planters up there. They get very heavy full of soil so put a sheet of ply down to spread weight, and put a couple of bricks in and fill with compost and a bit of polystyrene.

Plant grasses, verbena bonaseries and some semperveriums. None of those need huge amount of water, And the tall stuff provides sway and a lot of bang for your buck.

Sorry to be a misery but I wouldn’t put anything there until you’ve had the load bearing tested. Some flat roofs just aren’t safe to walk on.

I agree! Absolutely nothing until you are sure it’s safe.

We’ve walked on it before and it’s got big planters on the edges. I don’t want to add anything big- just some small hardy yet colourful plants.

It’s safe enough to walk on, my concern is more that we have young children so I want to minimise the risk of the door being accidentally left open and a tragedy occurring. My 3yo doesn’t even know it’s possible to access it and I want to keep it that way!

Plant grasses, verbena bonaseries and some semperveriums. Thanks, I’ll look these up!

Are you absolutely sure it’s safe to walk on? Even though you’ve walked on it?

Let’s assume for the sake of argument that it is completely safe from a weight-bearing perspective.

It’s not only a question of safety and load bearing, though obviously that is important.I am assuming that it is covered with a flat roof covering like a bitumen surface. These are not designed to be walked on , any stones or sharp objects underneath planters could start to compromise the surface and crack it or make a hole. Then it rains. Water collects on the surface and drains though the roof covering.......

Definitely check out the safety aspect, and make sure it's not going to cause damage or damp. The other thing to think about, if there are storms or high winds, is that pots are bolted down so they can't blow off the roof and land on someone..

Here are the existing planters (happy to refresh them if someone has any suggestions for plants!) and the small pots I’d like to plant as well.

Fence round it? My folks have, have a greenhouse and shed on theirs. Loads of planters, washing line and covered it in fake grass for patio chairs area. They had it reroofed recently with a 5% slope to drain as they had to sweep water off. Looks fantastic and they use it daily.

Please excuse the Mr tumble but you can see the fence with planters, greenhouse and fake grass