Garden Design IdeasGarden Ideas, Photos and Tips for Gardening at Home
It is hard to nail when the living ceiling jumped from eco - illusion to eco - solution — there have been startling and innovational green roofs all across the state and in Europe seemingly perpetually . But in my nous , technology and design caught up with the dreaming in 2008 when a sweeping marvel of aboriginal plants , wild flower , and engineering was work up atop San Francisco ’s California Academy of Sciences . Since then , there ’s been an inspiring generation of eco - savvy , design - forward residential fleeceable cap — from cactus garden to rainwater forest , topping everything from chicken cage to full - blown homes .
In Virginia , Norfolk Botanical Garden ’s green roof uses sedum , delosperma , and sempervivum . ( photograph by : Rob Cardillo )
unripe ceiling have become born fits for many public buildings as well , thanks to gravid - scale leaf environmental and fiscal benefits such as energy efficiency , tempest - water management , sound insulation , and the ontogeny of habitats for bird and other urban creatures . Most of these projection , like the Academy ’s , are standard “ across-the-board ” fleeceable roof as now fix : vegetation growing in a shoal ( 3- to 6 - inch ) level of lightweight soil medium , contained in a special meeting place organisation over a waterproof membrane . A smaller residential ceiling may accomplish some of the same environmental finish , but full fiscal payback is improbable at least in the dear future ; these project are more about doing trade good for the environment , knockout , and horticultural interest . Yet with lowered fiscal expectation derive more blueprint freedom , and a growing number of residential fleeceable roofs display plant surprises , foundation , and a delicious sense of experimentation and playfulness .
In Phoenix , for instance , landscape painting designer Steve Martino take in a playfully literal approach , laying prickly pear pad like shingles on 3 inches of aboriginal granite soil on a low , unconditional , reinforced roof . And in the woods of Washington ’s Olympic Peninsula , designer Roy Hellwig of Sequim also gave local native a try . Turning away from distinctive earth - take a hop industrial plant , he covered his flat torch - down cap with moss , lichens , and fern mostly collected from his forest attribute ; these are largely aerophyte ( air plant life ) , which do n’t need soil . Thus the lightweight living roof need minimal upkeep and await as connected with the earth as the Hobbits ’ homes in The Lord of the Rings . For those who trust a like smell , Hellwig has rise an promiscuous - to - put in mat contain a pre - work epiphytic ecosystem that can adhere to most any roof or wall . Currently he ’s at work on a standardised system suited for subtropical climates .
A green roof atop a house in Mill Valley , California , by McGlashan Architecture . ( Photo by : Barbara Ries )
Another approach designers take is to mix up the plant palette on roofs . In Sonoma County , California , Kevin Falkerson and Kerrie Lee Cole , the design - and - soma squad at Symbios , create one - of - a - genial “ artisan ” roofs that display a surprising diversity of plants . The 3,300 - solid - invertebrate foot cap of the house they call Wings of Earth uses nine species ofsedumwith emphasis of butterfly stroke - attracting , perennial genus Dianthus and phlox — all seeable from the upper trading floor of the home .
As a model for green roof design , the American Society of Landscape Architects commission Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates to produce a rootop enquiry garden atop its Washington , D.C. , home office . The residential - size , 3,000 - straight - foot presentation include two elevated waves . One has low plants ( primarily sedums ) making role of minimum soil depth ; the other include a mix of sedums with tall , drouth - repellent Gunter Grass and perennial need a deep soil stem . After six years , measurable result are in : The roof planting retained 77 per centum of rainfall that fall during the first information - collecting period , and temperatures have been as much as an astounding 59 degrees depressed than conventional black roofs on neighboring buildings .
item from a roof with mixed planting . ( exposure by : Steve Martino )
While do - it - yourself kits have tally the market , developing a sustainable green ceiling unremarkably squall for a landscape architect or fashion designer specializing in the field — someone who be intimate the structural demand , assembly organization , drainage , local conditions , plants , and maintenance .
The cost of a green roof is roughly two to four metre that of a conventional roof . government activity bureau began offering fiscal motivator to defray monetary value of residential green roof — showery Portland , Oregon , has a notable one . To improve its storm - urine management , the city ’s “ eco - roof incentive ” program funds up to $ 5 per square foot of a project .
A playhouse in North London . ( exposure by : Marianne Majerus )
To explore the possibility of green roofs , Snodgrass suggests beginning with a doghouse or birdhouse . ( Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania has offered just such a course of study . ) “ Starting with a birdhouse is a good first step to have your feet lactating and understanding the limits — and opportunities — of acquire plants in such a shallow root blank , ” he say . And then , there ’s no place to go but up . ?
Green Roof ResourcesMost information on green roof is aimed at big buildings , but a few solid residential resources be .
Christian Bible : First grabSmall Green Roofs : Low - Tech Options for Greener Livingby Nigel Dunnett , Dusty Gedge , John Little , and Ed Snodgrass , mostly for its overview and achievable illustration . Along with Linda McIntyre , Snodgrass also contributed a useful chapter on dark-green cap to Thomas Christopher ’s splendidThe New American Landscape .
On the web : Greenroofs.orgis a database of advice , inquiry , materials , course of instruction , and a directory of professional designers and installers . Snodgrass ’ website , greenroofplants.com , includes helpful advice , especially on plants , along with a gallery of his projects .
The American Society of Landscape Architects provides extensive records of its experimental green roof atasla.org . Athydrotechusa.com , observe the system the California Academy of Sciences and other major life roofs exercise .
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To order one of Roy Hellwig ’s ready - to - install , pre - educate roof mats , call or visit his Archiphyte website ( 360/582 - 1094;archiphytellc.com).Firms that create living roofs let in Symbios ( 707/874 - 9015;symbiosdesign.com ) in Sonoma , California , McGlashan Architecture(510/549 - 2102;mcglashanarchitecture.com ) in Berkeley , California , and Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates ( mvvainc.com ) , with office in Brooklyn , New York , and Cambridge , Massachusetts .
