When Hayden Regina and his partner bought their Chicago condo in 2020, they had a vision: a rooftop garden that would be both a personal refuge and professional research space, somewhere to simultaneously escape and get lost in. ⁠ ⁠ 🔨 Deciding on Design⁠ ⁠ • The final layout divides the roof into two “rooms” that are connected by a narrow catwalk, compressing movement and heightening awareness of exposure. ⁠ ⁠ • The installation was kept modular and replicable, so any homeowner can replicate it without the use of a large crew. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠ 🌱 Planting Experiments⁠ ⁠ • Grass mixes like Sesleria autumnalis, Sporobolus heterolepis, and Briza media, serve as a structural backbone in the sunnier exposures, while grasses of the Carex variety bring durability to areas with partial shade. ⁠ ⁠ • Perennials have a role to play too—the texture and endurance of Penstemon ‘Onyx and Pearls,’ Enchinacea pallida, Allium ‘Summer Beauty,’ and others bring vertical punctuation, seasonal bloom, and mid-canopy p...