Florida Green Roof Plants

The plants chosen must be appropriate for the roof type extensive intensive or semi intensive.

Florida green roof plants.

Careful plant selection and maintenance is needed to ensure annuals do not become weeds on a green roof. Along with the makeup and depth of the growing medium selecting the right plants is crucial to the success of a green roof. City governments large corporations and other entities with significant financial resources are sponsoring green roof programs and leading the. Plants for green roofs.

Climate clearly plays a major role in choosing the best plants for a green roof. These are the mainstays of any green roof and should form the bulk of the planting unless provisions are made for the roof to support soil deeper than the 3 to 4 inches that is typical. Some green roofs are constructed specifically to support sports turf. The intent of the florida extensive green roof was to build an affordable non irrigated vegetated roof that was light in weight 10 lbs per sf and would survive the 5 h s of florida high winds hard freezes hurricanes high humidity and heat we wanted a vegetated roof that would treat clean stormwater provide wildlife habitat and offer a sense of place landscaping amenity.

Green roof plants need to be chosen with care however as not all plants are suitable for growing in this way. Vegetables are the other main group of annual plants used on green roofs. We specialize in custom grown green roofs. These require irrigation and a substrate depth of at least 200 mm.

Green roof plants should also be attractive and offer food and. Plant this option in a full sun location with well draining soil as it s a grassland plant and expect the pollen and nectar to attract bees. In the united states many green roofs are now in place including on chicago s city hall university of florida s perry construction yard building and ford s truck assembly plant in michigan. Meadow saxifrage saxifraga granulata erupts in snow white blooms between april and june and the kidney shaped leaves offer a stunning display for a green roof the plants grow up to 50 cm tall offering volume to your home.