Articles
Planting Green Roofs with Native Shrubs
Explore opportunities to incorporate shrubs into your future green roof designs - what to look for and what to watch out for - in this latest offering from Bruce Dvorak.
Water and Plants for Wet, Mesic, or Xeric Green Roofs
This article explores several seasoned green roofs where designers selected plants for their preferences for wet to dry habitats. Plants that thrive in wet, mesic, or xeric (dry) conditions can be employed on green roofs to perform a range of integrated building functions such as energy conservation, micro-climate mitigation, or cleaning of wastewater.
Wildflowers: Planting Living Roofs for Native Pollinators Part II
Want to help pollinators? This article provides you with the reasons for supporting pollinators as well as detailed information of families of plants that can support a wide range of pollinators across North America on green roofs.
Planting Living Roofs for Native Pollinators (Part I: Sedums)
Green roofs can recover space for pollinators in dense urban environments, where native ecosystems once persisted. This article is the first of several that will focus on the unique role of living roofs made for the preservation of native pollinators - looking at Sedums in particular.
Four Approaches to Making Living Roofs With Native Plants
There is a great potential for and an essential role for making green roofs with native plants. If conservation practices are not taking place at the ground level, or if the native plant communities have already been significantly altered, then living roofs may provide a last chance to support the ecological heritage of the region. This article explores four approaches to make living roofs with native plants.
Designing and Planting Climate Resilient Green Roofs
Through the use of tactics and strategies found in nature, green roofs can be designed to adapt to the inevitable cycles and stresses that climate can impose. This overview of ecosystem approaches shows how green roofs can be planted and designed for resilience, especially in hot, arid climates.
Exceptional Green Roofs from the West
Howdy! so goes a proper greeting from Texas. I am honored to step into this column and continue the conversation about plants for green roofs. In this inaugural issue of LAM’s new and revamped all online format, I will discuss how green roofs can also undergo editing and revamping of the plant palette over time, using examples from the Western US.