Product Description

A lavishly illustrated study of gardens built on the roofs of buildings. The first comprehensive hook in English about roof gardens, this survey includes a history of roof gardens, which date back to the hanging gardens of Nebuchadnezzar; summarizes contemporary design principles; details the techniques used in constructing durable and safe gardens; and gives guidelines for the selection of plants, planting procedures, and maintenance Sixty major projects from around the world are shown in color making the hook an important resource for designers and planners.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #313977 in Books
• Published on: 1997-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Review
An authoritative work on transforming neglected urban space into valuable real estate.... A practical, creative and stimulating book that is bound to make a difference. -- John 0. Simmonds, American Society of Landscape Architects

[H]as been considered the bible of traditional rooftop design….a classic…a must have in your library of design books. (Greenroofs.com )

About the Author
Theodore H. Osmundson is a landscape architect. He lives in San Francisco.

Customer Reviews

Greenroofs.com Recommends the Standard of Roof Garden Design
Greenroofs.com inaugurates our new Recommended Readings column with this highly informative reference standard for roof garden aficionados and design professionals alike. While Roof Gardens is clearly focused on the more traditional concept and practice of creating aesthetically pleasing garden space on flat roofs, Mr. Osmundson does address greenroof technology and the industry's advances in the field. In particular, the German market is credited for testing and developing highly effective yet lightweight greenroof components and systems, and case studies are presented.
The veteran landscape architect shares his practical expertise of roof garden design, research and travel, and the richly illustrated hardcover book is full of photos, plans and construction details of sixty projects in North America, Europe, Australia and Japan. Roof Gardens also offers a historical perspective and advice on site considerations, design elements, maintenance, and appendices of useful data and sources of supply and information.
Rooftop landscape architecture promises to greatly beautify our environment by greening our buildings. We highly recommend this easy to understand, invaluable reference for anyone interested learning about in-depth roof garden design and construction, from homeowner to city planner.  

green roofs
This book could be written only by someone who has a large experience
and an enhusiastic approach not only to landscape architecture, but also to all elements needed to complete such project, as the roof garden. Roof gardens do not only mean "plants on the roof", they are result of many other 'bits and pieces'. For those who want to find a reason why and how to build or design an roof garden, and have a studious approach to what they intend do, this book is to be recomended by all means.

Greener on Top
I bought this book thinking in learn everything about green roofs, and realy, this is the bible. The book have history informations, projects, practical construction information, project details, informations about benefits and possible problems. But there isnt specific scientific or data informations. It is a very complete introduction book in using green in the roofs, but i needed more...