Green Roof Plants A Resource And Planting Guide Pdf

When choosing plants for a green roof they need to be able to withstand wind and frost be drought resistant tolerate living in poor soil and be maintenance free.

Green roof plants a resource and planting guide pdf.

Michigan state university extension bulletin e 3047. As a general rule potentially suitable species can be found by looking at the microclimate media depth solar levels water availability etc of the green roof in question and. The variability of green roof designs and climates in the united states makes it impractical to list every possible plant candidate for extensive green roofs. A resource and planting guide.

Green roof plants should also be attractive and offer food and. Vegetables are the other main group of annual plants used on green roofs. Green roofs can be created on even the tiniest of structures. Many common garden plants will not sur vive on a green roof.

Green roof plants need to be chosen with care however as not all plants are suitable for growing in this way. In green roof plants 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. Finally it s time for the plants. Planting a green roof.

A resource and planting guide. I first must confess that have a green roof on my 2 car rear garage here in washington dc and worked directly with the author on choosing the proper plants to thrive in our little micro climate. View a slideshow of this document snodgrass e c. A resource and planting guide by edmund c.

So i already know the snodgrass are the pre eminent experts in the united states on the types of plants suitable for a given situation. Careful plant selection and maintenance is needed to ensure annuals do not become weeds on a green roof. Selecting plants for extensive green roofs in the united states. A guide for architects landscape designers engineers environmentalists and eco aware gardeners this text contains photographs and information for more than 200 species and cultivars of plants including data on moisture needs heat tolerance hardiness bloom color foliage characteristics and height.

These require irrigation and a substrate depth of at least 200 mm. In just a few years green roofs have gone from a horticultural curiosity to a booming growth industry primarily because the environmental benefits of extensively planted roofs are now beyond dispute whether for industrial or governmental complexes or for private homes in urban or suburban settings.