Plants For Intensive Green Roofs

Succulent plants are well adapted to the conditions often found on extensive green roofs because of their ability to limit transpiration and store excess water.

Plants for intensive green roofs. As well as affording excellent ground cover this hardy easy to maintain plant grows happily in a shallow layer of substrate minimising the amount of pressure it puts on a structure. Sedums are one of the star plants for creating a green roof and a sedum roof needs no extra growing medium. There are two types of green roof. Landscape bandana red bandana red lantana 16 24 18 24 orange and red green spring fall liriope muscari big blue big blue lily turf 12 24 12 24 lavender green late summer these species are particularly vigorous and are often best planted in monoculture.

Intensive roofs which are thicker with a minimum depth of 12 8 cm 5 1 16 in and can support a wider variety of plants but are heavier and require more maintenance and extensive roofs which are shallow ranging in depth from 2 cm 13 16 in to 12 7 cm 5 in lighter than intensive green roofs. Species such as sedum delosperma euphorbia and sempervivum are popular choices. Succulents such as sedum are often chosen for extensive green roofs because they withstand harsh conditions and minimize water loss. Plants for extensive green roofs should have low growth height rapid growth spreading and fibrous roots that have high drought tolerance.

These roofs will have grasses ground covers flowers shrubs and even trees. We also use vegetation rolls developed for green roof systems but grass can be also sown with seed mixtures and for immediate results even trays fitted with matured plants can be installed. There are literally hundreds of varieties found. Ed and lucie snodgrass succinctly describe the ideal traits for a good green roof plant the most successful green roof plants are low growing shallow rooted perennial plants that are heat cold sun wind drought salt insect and disease tol erant.

Also known as stonecrop because the succulent foliage resembles smooth polished stone sedums are the royalty of living roof plants.