Build and Rebuild » Sedum

Three Types of Roof Garden

Megan — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Roof gardens are built for both their aesthetic and their functional values. A roof garden can provide temperature control, architectural enhancement, hydrological benefits, and of course food. It can also serve as a habitat for wildlife. There are a number of advantages when you plant a roof garden. It can cool the room below it, especially during a hot day. During winter, it provides insulation against the cold. In Germany, roof gardens are required to retain water from evaporating. It will prevent flash floods from occurring. There are three basic types of roof garden. They differ according to the maintenance they require, the type of plants the roof will support and the depth of the soil. The three types of roof gardens are:

Extensive Roof Garden

This is the easiest type of roof garden to maintain because it uses shallow soil. Extensive roof gardens are lightweight, and ideal for the roofs on garages, sheds, and other small extensions of the home. Although it’s easy to maintain this type of roof garden, it has the least aesthetic value, and the number of plants that can grow on it is quite limited. Examples of plants you can grow in an extensive roof garden are lichens and mosses. Lichens are symbiotic organisms that can colonize on surfaces such as glass, metal and plastic. Mosses are small green plants that do not require large quantities of nutrients for survival. They cling on stone and walls and, can live off of rainwater alone.

Semi-extensive Roof Garden

This type of roof garden has deeper soil, and can support a larger variety of plants. It can therefore be decorated more easily than the extensive roof garden. The soil is heavier in a semi-extensive roof garden, and requires a stronger structure in order to support it. One could plant sedums in this type of garden. These are succulents that can store water in their tissues. That means you won’t need to go out and water them every day – but during times of drought, they could die and turn patchy if not properly cared for. On a semi-extensive roof garden, you can also plant wildflowers that can grow without any maintenance.

Intensive Roof Garden

This type of roof garden can support trees and elaborate arrangements. Intensive roof gardens require large, strong structures to support them. Most homes are not suitable for this type of roof garden, but they can be found on concrete buildings and on top of roof decks. There’s no limit to what you can plant in an intensive roof garden, so long as the structure of the building can support the weight.

Vegetation Blankets

Another interesting option for green roofing is the use of Vegetation Blankets. For more information, see Vegetation for Roof and Ground Covering. Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wengs/ / CC BY 2.0

C8K9XUX8GWQ4

This article was first published on Build and Rebuild. To continue reading, please view the original post at Three Types of Roof Garden.

Additional posts you may be interested in:

Vegetation Blankets for Green Roofing and More

Megan — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:37:57 +0000

Vegetation blankets can be used to create green roofs, but they aren’t limited to just that.

A vegetation blanket consists of a layer of fiber covered in a substrate on which plant life can live; with various plant species growing on it.

These blankets can be used to cover roofs, roundabouts, sound barrier walls, and embankments – to name a few. They can literally be rolled up for transport and then unrolled on top of the surface you wish to cover.

Due to their flexibility, they are also versatile and can lie over a curved roof, a sloping surface, or just about any otherwise awkward area. They are light-weight, insulating, and low-maintenance.

What’s more, they are quite eco-friendly. A green roof can be used to absorb and evaporate water runoff that would otherwise be wasted – or even worse, that would flood sewer systems and pollute rivers (as is the case in Portland, Oregon, for example).

Furthermore, a roof which is covered in live vegetation absorbs carbon dioxide and emits oxygen, thus helping to restore balance on a carbon-heavy planet that currently needs all the vegetation and plant life we can put on it.

For more information on vegetation blankets, where to get them, related services, and other details, please see this product description of Sedum Vegetation Blankets.

This article was first published on Build and Rebuild. To continue reading, please view the original post at Vegetation Blankets for Green Roofing and More.

Additional posts you may be interested in:

Vegetation Blankets

Megan — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:37:11 +0000

For Roof and Ground Covering

Sedum Vegetation Blankets

The Sempergreen® vegetation blankets consist of a coconut fiber blanket, a layer of substrate, and various sedum species.

The growth and development of the plants creates an integrated blanket.

Sedum has water-storing leaves and therefore can withstand harsh environments. By combining creepers and ground covering plants you can alternate between growing and blooming. An additional advantage is that these plants can withstand extreme weather conditions. To add diversity, you can also have grass and herbs growing in the vegetation blankets.

Extensive Roof Gardens & More

Sempergreen® vegetation blankets can be applied to nearly every roof. Is your roof sloped or is it a flat roof? Our lightweight and insulating green roofs provide instant and spectacular results. With its rapid application and instant effect, the vegetation blanket feels at home immediately on any roof. In addition, the purchase and maintenance costs are most competitive even compared to bulk and modular roofs, while offering 85% coverage instantly. The blankets have a protective function such that green roofs last two to three times longer and you save a great deal on energy costs in summer and winter.

Green roofs, blossoming roundabouts, erosion-resistant embankments, green-covered sound barrier walls and magnificent ground covers. Sempergreen® vegetation blankets can be used everywhere. They can be applied quickly and are as good as maintenance-free. Take advantage of our 14 years of international know-how and experience to further increase the success of your vegetation blanket!

Roof Garden Products

To ensure the full success of your vegetation blankets, you can order a complete package from us. Follow-up, consulting and free project advice, and the delivery of your Sempergreen® vegetation blankets, we supply everything else that you might need for your green roof. For example: substrates, drainage material, protective sheets, foils, membranes, inspection pits and eave profiles.

Growing Together

Extensive support, straightforward advice, good products, competitive prices, excellent references and making the impossible possible… That’s how our customers know us. In addition, we are happy to be a partner to an installation contractor and not a competitor. That is the reason that we support projects free of charge and do not install down the vegetation blankets ourselves.

Why is it that our customers truly want to do business with us?

We join forces for the best possible projects results!

With Sempergreen® vegetation blankets you immediately see mature growth with little or no maintenance. A green roof with vegetation blankets has water retention of around 45-70% and provides substantial energy saving.

Other benefits are:

Visually attractive appearance
Simple, quick and easy to apply
Very high growth percentage (at least 85%)
A lightweight solution (a green roof is possible starting from 19 lbs/square foot (100 kg/m2)
Only a thin substrate layer is needed compared to other extensive systems (2-5 inches depending on the region and the structure)
Uniform drainage and purification of rainwater
Resistant to nearly all weather conditions where people can live as well biodegradable
Suitable for nearly all types of roofs and slopes
Insulates in summer and winter
Sound damping
Unlike freshly planted bulk roofs its hardly sensitive to damage by birds

For more information on vegetation blankets for roof and ground covering, and for specific product information, contact:

Sempergreen USA
19315 Carrico Mills Rd
Stevensburg VA 22741
Tel.:540-399-5055
Fax :540-399-9085
office@sempergreen.com

www.sempergreen.com

Here you can also request custom-made quotes to your specifications. Do not hesitate to call us. We will gladly respond to your requests.

This article was first published on Build and Rebuild. To continue reading, please view the original post at Vegetation Blankets.