Green Roof Soil Types

Green roof types green roofs can serve a variety of different purposes and can support a wide variety of vegetative and plant life ranging from grasses to flowers to trees.

Green roof soil types.

Each type of plant will require different growing medium maintenance and local conditions to sustainable growth. Green roofs or living roofs have become popular over the years. Consists of a thick layer of soil 50 200mm in which a variety of grasses herbs flowers and shrubs can grow. In addition to the mosses grasses and sedum of extensive roofs semi intensive plantings include herbs flowering plants taller grasses and small shrubs.

Disadvantages are the lack of nutrients and potential to become eroded by windy conditions or flooding. The main advantage to this type of soil on a green roof is its light weight and ease of handling as it comes pre packaged in bales from a manufacturer. 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 and require minimal maintenance. When designing a green roof there are several factors to take into consideration.

There are three basic types of green roof. This is because they provide ecological benefits aesthetic value and creative urban architecture. Recently it was thought that the best soils for green roofs were engineered soils or pasteurized peat based soilless media with little emphasis on adapting it to local needs. These need to be accessible gardens for maintenance and can even be used as a recreation space.

Intensive thick extensive thin and semi extensive somewhere in between. Semi intensive green roofs require a deeper soil layer but the payoff is in the types of plantings that can be used.