A. The benefits:

1. It will be a delight to see.
2. It will keep the house cool.
3. The electricity consumed in using a fan and an air-conditioner will be reduced.
4. Greening of the mind.
5. It will calm you down & you will find inner peace.
6. Good physical exercise if you are going to do it yourself.
7. Employment opportunity for some one if you are going to hire a part time gardener or a home beautifier to maintain and water your terrace garden.
8. Quality of air will improve.
9. Your health will remain good.

B. What you can grow?

1. Lawn
2. Ornamental Plants
3. Flowering plants / creepers
4. Medicinal plants
5. Jatropha, the bio gas plant
6. Vegetables (See Home Farming folder)
7. Cultivate crops like paddy and grow even ground nut

C. Water

1. Use “used water” (waste water) after bacterial treatment (See Waste water treatment folder)
2. Bath room water through cannas root bed treatment
   (See Conservation Home / Water Conservation / Use Used Water)
3. Septic Tank (Safetic Tank  treatment)

D. How to use treated water?

1. Draw the water with a vessel from the treated water storage  tank and use it for watering the garden
2. Yet another idea would be to have a separate overhead tank for storing treated water which should have separate pipes to take the water to water your terrace and compound wall garden. This can also be connected to the toilet flush tank.

CAUTION:

1. The roof has to be treated and made water proof. You can achieve this by coating your terrace with fibreglass.
2. A Civil Engineer’s advice has to be sought on the load bearing capacity of your house and the roof. You have to take into account the weight of the pots and pipes, you would have to install and that of the plant bed which is made of mud, sand, red sand and manure as well as the weight of the plants which will keep growing.