Gardens of the Cross Timbers: Green Roofs
Sourced from the Shawnee News-Star
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were constructed 500 BC. Stone arches were covered in layers of tar and reeds before trees and plants were added. Some of the most famous of the Green Roofs.
The #5 presentation in the Oklahoma State University Shackleford Series was held May 13. Brad Rowe, director of the Michigan State University Green Roof Project, showed up on my computer screen and presented “The Role of Green Roofs in Sustainable Development.” The Zoom presentation went off without a hitch at my house. It could have as well been plagued with low band width, interrupted internet connections or a cat running over the computer keyboard.
Two days before the lecture, the two toilets at my home went from slow to flood stage. The plumber came with his gigantic roto-rooter, pulled out a few tree roots and problem solved. The utility room flooded that night. The back flow from our calcium magnesium cylinder went everywhere in the room since the septic tank pipe was again blocked. Problem back. During the emptying of the septic tank next day, a dead squirrel was found. It may have blocked the line from the house to the tank. The little guy had to have been investigating the roof vent pipe and somehow tumbled down to the outflow pipe. A case of curiosity killed the squirrel. After a few shocked exclamations and shaking of heads, the small squirrel was buried between two pine trees. Problem solved.
If we just had a green roof. The squirrel might not have even seen the pipe. A living roof with grasses, shrubs or even trees. When we lived in Germany, we saw several houses and businesses with roofs not of tile, but low-growing plants. I wondered about the weight of such a covering as well as maintenance. Coming from Oklahoma, keeping things alive in summer requires water. Granted, the German climate is more temperate, warmed by the North Atlantic Current, and rains fall throughout the year. In Oklahoma, furious bouts of rain may be interspersed with lengthy droughts. A weird balance between humid, subtropical eastern Oklahoma and semi-arid western Oklahoma.
Germany is the leader in green roofs, which fall into two categories: Intensive and Extensive. The Intensive roof design is meant to include people, has deeper soils, larger trees and shrubs limited to flat roofs or terraces. The Extensive green roof usually has shallow soil (4”-6”) which limits plants to succulents and drought tolerant types.
From the Living Architecture Academy
