Complete solutions for green roofs from a single source
Some products will only be available for purchase on the open market in 1-2 years' time, and are currently contract grown on 6 hectares, increasing to ca. 20 hectares by 2023.
To achieve an immediate effect, vegetation blankets (sedum blankets) are made from several types of carefully selected plants with a rich color spectrum, different textures and a variety of flowers, providing green roofs with a spectacular and natural appearance all year round. Equally effective are our range of turf rolls, plant trays with mature plants, grass seed or seed mixes.
Our experienced specialists are available to help you select the vegetation that fits your project. We make it a priority to ensure that the native or denizen plant species we recommend are ideally adapted to the climatic and microclimatic characteristics of the extensive or intensive green roofs, also taking into account their annual growth rate.
In addition to green roof vegetation, our complete range of accessories include green roof elements (protective layers, growing substrate, drainage and water storage layers, filtering, separating and levelling layers) that are essential for the creation of a well-functioning, long-lasting ecological green roof.
A complete roofing system can be purchased in one place (one stop shop), thus simplifying your logistics.
We are an environmentally conscious and motivated team, with a common goal to contribute to the success of our partners through the products we offer, thus making the urban ecosystem greener and healthier. Thanks to our extensive logistical experience and smooth communication with our customers, we deliver our green roof products to any part of Europe, within a reliable timeframe.
We are looking for partners:
- green roof builders
- re-sellers
- real estate investors who choose design-based contract growing for the green belt of their investments
- municipalities and public institutions to create easily sustainable green spaces in public spaces.
Biodiverse blanket with grasses
Urbanization is on the rise and this process has many negative ecological consequences, which not only have a direct impact on our environment, but also on us. One of these problems is the drastic loss of biodiversity, with more than 1 million species of animals and plants currently being threatened by extinction. The biggest problem for our urban ecosystem is the decline in pollinating insect species (bees, butterflies), due to fragmented green spaces, the loss of habitats and food sources.
The key to the solution lies in a change of approach by the construction industry and local authorities. One simple and effective way of urban greening is to install green roofs on underused roof structures. Green roofs can be installed on almost any type of roof (from 50 kg/m2 load up), including retrofit roofs.
In contrast to traditional roofs, green roofs with rich vegetation (be it extensive, intensive or semi-intensive) improve biodiversity, provide favorable living conditions, food and breeding opportunities for many species of animals, birds, bees, butterflies and other insects. Biodiverse roofs provide a link between urban green spaces and rural natural areas. In addition, green roofs have other positive ecological benefits (air quality improvement, microclimate regulation, rainwater management, etc.), all of which contribute to alleviate the biodiversity crisis.
When designing and constructing a biodiverse green roof, keep in mind to choose an optimal substrate thickness and a vegetation of a favorable diversity to obtain a well-functioning complex ecosystem and to avoid building ecological traps for different species.
Structure of the biodiverse roof system
A biodiverse green roof should be built up from a drainage layer, a planting medium and a dense vegetation cover.
The thickness of the drainage layer may depend on the design of the roof system, and the water storage capacity will be tailored to the climatic conditions.
The substrate for a biodiverse green roof should be a porous soil layer, rich in nutrients but light in texture. For the planting medium it is recommended to be 15 cm thick, so that caterpillars and other insects have enough space to settle in.
A suitable vegetation blanket for this purpose is our "Biodiverse Blanket with Grasses", which contains 4-5 species of sedum, 20-25 species of herbaceous perennials and 5-7 species of grasses. The plants are cultivated on a coconut fiber blanket and a special substrate. The vegetation blanket is well-rooted and stabilized and can therefore be installed immediately, providing a coverage of at least 95% from the moment of installation. The installation of these blankets is easy and economical, requiring little time investment and labor. There is no need for complex maintenance, no need for regular watering, and a mature, self-sustaining green surface is immediately available. This is partly due to the common properties of the plants that make up the vegetation blanket. Succulents and the various herbaceous perennials to be found in the blanket are drought and frost tolerant, do not need regular maintenance and are well adapted to extreme conditions. Most importantly, they are highly regenerative. Grasses are also highly resistent and spectacularly decorative, and when used with other plants they enhance the aspect of a wildflower meadow. Perennials and grasses are recommended to be mown once or twice a year for a more vigorous shoot formation and flowering.
Sedum blankets enriched with grasses and herbaceous perennials (i.e., biodiverse carpets), are very similar to natural wild vegetation, which is why they are so resistent and viable. The dense vegetation has a large leaf surface, which comes with an intensive insulating and cooling effect, and a strong air purifying effect, which has a positive influence on the microclimate. This type of vegetation blanket is recommended for roofs with a gentle slope and a maximum pitch of 10 degrees.
At different times of the year, the diversified and colorful vegetation blanket is enriched with flowering, fragrant herbs and honey species. It is particularly attractive to butterflies and other pollinating insects and serves as a bee-feeder.
Urban development and large-scale agriculture are disrupting the local ecosystem, hence the need to create biodiverse green roofs, thus contributing to biodiversity conservation. Green roofs offer many economic and ecological benefits and are therefore an attractive investment. Choosing biodiverse vegetation blankets for a green roof project, is a functional contribution to the diversity of urban flora and fauna, thereby also helping to halt the decline of the population of bees and butterflies. It is an environmentally conscious choice that also helps to reduce our carbon footprint and fight against climate change.
Sedum blankets
Recently, with the recognition of the many positive ecological and economic benefits of green roofs, there is a growing demand for the development of self-regulating ecosystems of this kind. The use of vegetation blankets is the most effective way to create self-sustaining and low-maintenance green spaces that can be implemented quickly.
The sedum blanket is the most widely used product that can be applied to any type of green roof, whether extensive or semi-intensive (biodiverse) (in the latter case overseeded with local species).
The sedum species that make up the blanket belong to the group of succulent plants, a group of hundreds of plant species that store water in their leaves, making them drought-tolerant, not water-demanding. They survive drought by self-regulating their metabolism and they regenerate very quickly with little moisture. Another advantage of sedums is that their root system makes them suitable for planting them in soil of limited thickness.
The use of Sedum blankets has many advantages that can be perceived from the moment of installation.
The blanket contains several types of mature Sedum plants, which provide a coverage of at least 95% from the moment of installation, and the vegetation quickly adapts to its environment. It is not necessary to wait 3 to 5 years, as is the case when planting seedlings or seeds, which require a lot of attention in the first period. This saves the cost of sowing and the time and money spent on the complex maintenance work that follows.
These vegetation blankets require minimal maintenance, there is no need for re-installation, they are instantly resistant to heavy rainfalls or long dry periods, no irrigation is required, except if one wants them to look more aesthetically pleasing during the summer droughts.
The adult plants that form the sedum blanket grow on a coconut fiber mat in a growing substrate, so that they adapt optimally to the soil layer, forming a so-called blanket, ensuring almost maximum (at least 95%) coverage of the surface, protecting the roof from wind erosion or storms. There is no risk of tearing or fragmentation during installation, the plants being well-estabilished.
Also, thanks to its favorable coverage, the vegetation blanket has an immediately noticeable soil shading effect. This is not possible in case of a conventional planting, because in the first years of vegetation development, the substrate is easily heated by the sun. This sedum blanket is also an excellent alternative to lawns due to its low water and maintenance requirements.
It can even be used for ultralight roofs, as it requires a thinner planting layer, so the weight will be up to 60% less than the layers used in case of individual planting. It also saves time and considerable amounts of money, as the vegetation blankets can be installed in a very short time, reducing labor costs.
Some special Sedum blankets have HDPE enforcement grids embedded in their structure, so they can be used on sloping roofs with pitches of up to 30-90 degrees (i.e., almost horizontal structures).
We recommend our own production Sedum blankets to anyone who wants long-lasting quality and a ready-to-install, low-maintenance, and on a longer run self-sustaining ecological protective layer for their building's roof structure.
We have at your disposal several types of vegetation blankets to suit your landscaping needs: mixed sedum blankets (with several species of Sedum), sedum + wildflower blankets, or Sedum and grasses, bee and butterfly friendly vegetation blankets. All types are highly adaptable to local climate variations, which is a guarantee of lasting success.
If you have any further questions about our Sedum blankets, please contact one of our consultants.
Extensive planting medium
A green roof is a complex system, so each layer has its own important function. The planting medium is the layer in which the green roof vegetation is placed. As a consequence, the composition and quality of the planting medium determines the longevity and viability of the vegetation. Therefore, it is important to choose a professional planting mix that will nourish viable vegetation for decades. Depending on the type of green roof, the composition of the planting medium will also vary, adapting to the plant community. The growing medium ensures that the vegetation develops properly by providing sufficient space for the root system and optimum nutrients and moisture.
As the planting medium on the roof is not in contact with natural soil and therefore lacks mineralisation processes, it must meet a few requirements to function well in extreme rooftop conditions:
- Natural ingredients: it must not contain raw materials or compounds harmful to plants or the environment.
- Water storage and retention capacity
- Air content
- pH: pH 5,5-8,5 for intensive green roofs, pH 6,5-9,5 for extensive green roofs.
- Frost resistance: it is important that they can withstand frost
- Nutrients and salinity: depending on the type of roof, there are value limits which should not be exceeded
- Organic matter content
- Weed content: only planting media without weeds should be used
- Particle size distribution, particle size: determines the tendency to compaction
- Fire protection: if the right amount of mineral aggregate is used and the layer thickness is at least 3 cm, intensive and extensive green roofs will provide a safe cover that meets fire protection requirements.
These considerations make it clear why a professionally formulated planting medium is important and why a conventional soil layer is not appropriate.
The planting medium for extensive green roofs is shallow (6-8 cm depth), which ensures a long term balanced development of shallow rooted succulent plant species (sedums) and wild flowers. This type of planting medium is based on mineral grinds with additives and leavening agents, so that it is light, porous, stable, with a good pH, warrants a low weed emergence, it has good heat-absorbing, water-retaining and water permeability properties. For extensive green roofs no top soil layer should be used, as this will quickly become overgrown with weeds and suppress the extensive vegetation. Therefore, it is important to use a weed-free, larger-grained extensive planting medium.
Extensive growing medium is low maintenance, has adequate nutrient content, is suitable for roofs with low load-bearing capacity and where high water retention capacity is a priority.
In a multi-layer construction, it is important that the planting layer contains as little fine-grained material as possible, in order to prevent the levigated part from leaching into the drains and to avoid damaging the filtering function of the drainage layer underneath.
In a single-layer construction, the plants are planted directly on top of the drainage layer, so the single-layer substrate must also perform the filtering function.
When installing a green roof, it is important to pay attention to the load-bearing capacity of the roof, and not to exceed it. At the same time, it is important to maintain a minimum layer thickness even when levelling slopes. Compaction of the planting medium is not recommended, and vibration is forbidden as it may damage the supporting structure of the building. The planting medium is delivered in bulk or in 1 m3 big-bags.
Advantages of extensive planting media:
- heat-absorbing capacity, cooling the upper floor
- water permeability, rainwater harvesting, evaporation
- lightweight, so can be used on most slab structures
- high air content
- layer stability
- weed resistance
