The Green Roof With The Greatest Plant Diversity

A varied substrate depth.

The green roof with the greatest plant diversity. Ruderal plants for fast colonialization and deep rooted plants for higher drought resilience. 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. Without plant diversity the roof is unable to buffer for environmental changes. A green roof is a layer of vegetation planted over a waterproofing system that is installed on top of a flat or slightly sloped roof.

Higher multifunctionality may require much greater species richness isbell et al. While the greater substrate depth of intensive roofs can provide improved plant growth and support a greater diversity of plants these roofs have more structural requirements and greater up front construction costs as well as higher maintenance costs as compared to extensive green roofs. Green roof plants should also be attractive and offer food and shelter for wildlife. Planted and or seeded with a wide range of wildflowers sedums can be added too by applying these principles many interesting native invertebrate species will take up residence on green roofs.

Green roofs can promote biodiversity in urban areas. The extent to which green roofs stimulate plant diversity can depend on roof characteristics such as roof age substrate depth and shading. We exploratively studied the vegetation on a dutch green roof in 50 permanent plots 1 m2 over eight years 2012 2019 following roof construction. What is a green roof.

Also diversity makes the roof more resilient to pests. With all this in mind here are ten of the best green roof plants to choose from. A good green roof designed for biodiversity should include. The most common type of extensive shallow substrate green roof features species mixtures of succulents mainly from the genus sedum.

To display the best plants for green roofs and to trial untested plants for their adaptability to this environment. Mixture advantage when species rich treatments outperform the best monocultures is desirable in constructed ecosystems due to the cost of. New green roofs should be watered until the plants are established and it is important to weed green roofs several times a year to keep the plants healthy. Fol lowing an initial five year evaluation phase new trials of uncommon and or untested plants will continually cycle into the green roof gardens.

Wildflower green roofs are especially good for pollinators such as. A diverse stable and resilient roof. The ultimate goal of the trial is to develop a diverse and extensive list of.