Green Roofing – Keeping the World’s lungs in good health

Q-Lawns: A sedum green roof is a great way to bring life to a porch, an extension or a garden building.

One of the most important roles of green plants is to keep the planet alive by absorbing carbon dioxide and turning it into oxygen for everyone to breath. Plants are, in effect, the lungs of the world. As global population increases and forestry and fields disappear beneath buildings and infrastructure, it becomes more important than ever to find imaginative ways of nurturing plants in unusual places. The obvious place to start is up on the roof.

A living green roof is a marvellous thing. It insulates a building against heat cold and noise, helps ameliorate storm water and works well as part of a SUDS system. It also provides food and shelter for beneficial insects and helps improve air quality. In an ideal world, every building would have a green roof and every green roof would support a diverse selection of native plants.

As with every other aspect of construction, refurbishment and renovation, there are compromises to be made when creating a living green roof. Not every building can support the deep layer of growing medium needed for a wild flower roof and not every budget can stand the installation costs involved. But there is an alternative.

Sedum matting is one of the easiest, lightest and least demanding ways of creating an oxygen-giving living green roof. The build-up requires no sourcing or lifting of specialised green roof growing mediums, it’s simply a matter of unrolling two or three layers (depending on the roof pitch) of specially engineered mats followed by the sedum blankets themselves. An easily constructed edging holds everything in place and Bob’s your uncle.

Maintenance on a sedum roof is uncomplicated. Simply feed in spring, remove any debris or unwanted plants and make sure gutters are kept clear.

For more information, visit www.enviromat.co.uk or email angelal@qlawns.co.uk to ask a question.