The Globe and Mail

In an exquisitely private enclave of downtown Toronto, where the streets are really lanes and where lush foliage frames perfectly restored Victorian façades, sits an odd, new kind of secret garden. It's a big square patch of mixed perennials sitting on the roof of a laneway garage, and it can only be seen from the second floor of its owner's home and from the neighbours' second floors. It's the latest example of a green-roof trend in Toronto that has seen affluent and environmentally minded homeowners start experimenting with an idea that's been around for two decades in Europe and has caught hold in several western U.S. cities in the past few years.