Attempting to build a Hotel Garden

I come from a long line of green fingered folk who can grow anything from seed and can rhyme off the common name as well as the Latin name's of plants and flowers and all things in the garden. Unfortunately the talent stopped short of me and I have the rare ability to kill even the hardiest of ivy's.

However, I'm thinking of trying again but this time for the hotel. Being a city centre hotel we have a huge roof space which we can't really use for anything useful and after a conversation with the people at the Green Hotels Association I got to thinking about using the space to grow herbs for our hotel restaurant, Il Vignardo.

I've been doing some research and although it is the wrong time of year to start sewing, with some planning I think we could grow all manner of herbs in raised beds on the roof.
As I mentioned earlier, I am not the most green fingered of people so I'll be starting small in case of a major catastrophe!

I am going to grabs a large pot and potting compost and bedding material (who knew that potting compost and bedding material were different things?! Actually, probably most of you.) and I am going to sew the first seeds in the Hotel Isaacs garden. I'm going to grow some garlic. Apparently October/ November is the perfect time for sewing garlic which should be ready to harvest in August next year. I'm not sure that we will be self sufficient any time soon but I really love the idea of using the hotel's dead space to create living plants.

All hints and tips will be gratefully accepted and I'll post a photo of my creation later in the week.
Wish me luck!