Green
Roof Update
Green roofs are on
the up! If you already have a living green roof, it's time to give
it a feed and make sure the plants are in top form for the growing
season. If you don't have a green roof, it's time to remind
yourself why green roofs are important and how easy it is to make one
yourself.
If
green roofs are "low maintenance" why do they need feeding?
A living green roof is
just like a huge container garden. The plants have a finite amount
of growing medium to get their roots into and the nutrients in that
growing medium soon get used up.
In addition, the harsh
conditions on a roof put extra strain on the plants' metabolism so,
just like us when we're working hard, green roof plants need the
right food (and plenty of it!) to keep them in good health.
Enviromat
Natural Green Roof Feed has been specially developed to help you
and your clients to get the best out of their green roofs.
It comes in a bucket –
so it's easy to carry up on to a roof. The granular feed is easy
to store and easy to apply.
The formulation is 7.9%
Nitrogen, 2.97% Phosphorus, 2.47% Potassium and a whole host of
essential trace elements. Enviromat Natural Green Roof Feed is a
slow release feed, so on a healthy living roof, one feed a year is
enough.
Order
your Green Roof Feed online or phone Q Lawns for a quote: 01842
828266
5
Jolly good reasons to install a living green roof
The feedback from last
month's Homebuilding and Renovating Show is that green roofing is
on the up. Over the four days of the show, staff from Enviromat met
with a constant stream of enquiries from people at all stages of the
planning process.
If you are still
undecided whether or not a green roof is for you, here "˜s a
reminder of some of the benefits it will bring with it.
1.Great for wildlife
Green roofs provide
undisturbed homes and resting places for all kinds of creatures. The
sedum plants in Enviromat are particularly rich in pollen and nectar
and are a great food source for bees, butterflies, moths and
hoverflies. Birds enjoy the fact that a green roof is a more
comfortable place to perch than a standard roof. They also rather
like to eat the seedheads from sedum plants,and feed on the wealth of
insect life that lives amongst the foliage. Another plus for birds
is that the spent flower stalks make nesting material.
2. Rainwater
management
In towns and cities, up
to 75% of rain water becomes runoff. In other words it gushes
directly from roofs, roads and pavements into drainage systems. An
Enviromat living roof will absorb much of the rain that falls on it
and release the water slowly back into the atmosphere. Any rainwater
that does run off a green roof does so slowly and will have many of
the pollutants filtered out of it. Thus a green roof will take the
strain off the drains and helping to lower the risk of flooding.
3. Insulation
Green roofs create an
extra layer of insulation on homes, offices and animal housing. The
plants work to cool a building in summer (by evapotranspiration) and
retain heat in the winter (with a layer of foliage that traps warm
air close to the building). Extra insulation will help to reduce
your heating bills. It will also give you a warm feeling because
you'll know that you're helping the planet by reducing your
carbon footprint.
4. Solar energy
If you have PV panels
on your roof, you may already know that they work best when the
temperature on the roof is 30 degrees Celsius or less. In summer
time, a standard roof surface can get a lot hotter than that.
However, having a layer of plants on the will lower the surface
temperature so that your PV panels are far more efficient....as an
analogy, think of the difference between the temperature of a
pavement and a grass lawn on a summer day....which is the most
comfortable to walk on barefoot?
5. Sound proofing
A sedum green roof can
potentially halve the amount of noise pollution entering a building.
For people who appreciate peace and quiet an Enviromat green roof is
ideal for a garden office or studio.
Best of all
As with all plants and
green space, it has been proved that looking out on to a living roof
can improve mood, increase productivity and generally enhance
well-being.
An Enviromat sedum
green roof will flower for a good 6 months of the year and the
foliage has most amazing textural foliage all year round. Plus, it's
easy to install and even easier to look after.
How
to install a sedum green roof
Download
Enviromat's FREE green roof design guide
