Green Roofing

British Flora are specialist growers and suppliers of UK Native and local provenance wildflowers and seed.  We support the greenroofing industry in providing expert ecological and horticultural advice on species selection, biodiversity enhancement, maintenance and establishment of plants in a greenroof environment.  We have a team of skilled landscapers that can install the vegetation on biodiverse greenroofs including plug planting, seeding, wildflower and sedum blankets and other substrate and wildlife features.  We can also provide a maintenance and monitoring service integral to the establishment of a successful greenroof.

British Flora are affiliate members of British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI) and adhere to the flora Locale code of conduct for plant growers and suppliers.  Our in house ecologist is a Full Member of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (IEEM) and can advise on enhancing biodiversity on your greenroof and attaining landscape and ecology credits for Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) and BREEAM.  The following Information note is a brief outline of greenroofs focusing on the vegetation system.

 

Types of Greenroof

There are a number of different types of greenroofs and terms used to describe them including; Sedum roof, Extensive, Semi-intensive and Intensive, which are defined by substrate depth and the plant communities that can establish on these mediums.

Intensive greenroofs are also known as rooftop gardens and can include anything from trees and shrubs to swimming pools and allotments. The ‘biodiverse’ or extensive roof is a shallow light weight system that can support a diverse assemblage of native wildflowers to create ecological habitats for wildlife. British Flora specialise in specifying and installing the vegetation layer for extensive/biodiverse and semi-intensive greenroofs.

Weights and depths of substrates can vary and a suitably qualified greenroof designer and architect will need to be consulted on weight bearing loads of different roof designs. The Table below provides a guide to weight and depth of substrates in different greenroofing systems.