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. Whether you are considering a green roof to expand the life of your roof, reduce heating and cooling costs, minimize carbon monoxide impact, or just improve the aesthetics of your building, it is important to choose the right medium for your roof. Each type of plant will require different growing medium, maintenance and local conditions to sustainable growth.

There are a few different types of green roofs available in order to best meet your growing needs, learn more about them below or contact Turf Ltd today to speak with one of our specialists about your next project and get a free estimate!

Extensive Green Roof Media

• Media Depth – 6 inches or less
• System Weight Requirements – Less than 45 pounds per square foot saturated weight
• Porosity/Water Retention Level – High
• Vegetative Tolerance – Shallow rooting & drought tolerant plant species
• Maintenance Level – Minimal

Semi-Intensive Green Roof Media

• Media Depth – 6-12 inches deep
• System Weight Requirements – 45-80 pounds per square foot saturated weight
• Porosity/Water Retention Level – High
• Vegetative Tolerance – Deeper rooting sedum, grasses, herbs, flowering plants and small shrubs
• Maintenance Level – Occasional / Routine
• Root barriers are required

Intensive Green Roof Media

• Media Depth – 12 inches
• System Weight Requirements – 80-120 pounds per square foot and up saturated weight
• Porosity/Water Retention Level – High
  Vegetative Tolerance – Deeper rooting sedum, grasses, herbs flowering plants, shrubs and trees
• Maintenance Level – Routine
• Root barriers are required
• Irrigation systems may be required

Turf

• Media Depth – 6-12 inches deep
• System Weight Requirements – 45-80 pounds per square foot saturated weight
• Vegetative Tolerance – Turf grasses are generally deeper rooting
• Porosity / Water Retention Level – High Porosity / Lower Water Retention

Considerations For Green Roof Design

There are many things to consider when choosing to design a green roof for your home or building. Structural integrity is one of the most important factors, the weight of completely saturated soil must be taken into account. The soil and plantings will retain a lot of water and the roof structure needs to be able to sustain that weight. The proper waterproofing membrane and protective barriers need to be included to prevent water, roots, animals, insects and chemicals from fertilizers from damaging the roof structure.