Intensive Green Roof Maintenance

Occasional weeding and a yearly application of slow release fertilizer to boost growth.

Intensive green roof maintenance.

Intensive green roof maintenance as they often resemble regular gardens the deeper substrate intensive types of green roof require more maintenance than the extensive variety. An intensive green roof is a deeper typically greater than six inches heavier system designed to sustain complex landscapes. Gardens and parks on roofs can store a great deal of water and are therefore good sustainable urban drainage systems suds for stormwater management. An extensive green roof is almost maintenance free but your roof garden will always need a little maintenance.

Extensive vegetative green roofs are designed to be virtually self sustaining and should require only a minimum of maintenance. In comparison to soil substrate is also more tolerant of weather extremes such as heat cold and drought. They are strong enough to be able to compensate for this. However maintenance requirements are generally no more than would be expected for sidewalk planters.

Vegetable and herb gardens fit in well on these rooftops and to a degree their care is slightly easier than ground level gardens since fewer pests and weeds find their way to the higher elevations. Intensive green roof maintenance as they often resemble regular gardens the deeper substrate intensive types of green roof require more maintenance than the extensive variety. The garden element of the roof will need to be watered regularly though some designs will have an automated system. The amount of care depends on the roof s exposure the types of plants the growing medium and the vagaries of the weather.

Intensive green roofs require more maintenance because of the plant varieties they will support. For more complex green roofs such as the semi intensive or intensive kind growing substrate also known as artificial soil is ideal as it requires less water and less maintenance to support plant growth. The garden element of the roof will need to be watered regularly though some designs will have an automated system. Urban agriculture on green roofs would be considered an intensive green roof as they need regular maintenance relatively deep soils and a certain amount of irrigation.

Semi intensive green roofs require a bit more maintenance since the plants tend to need pruning irrigation and fertilization. This includes removing weeds carried by the wind and applying fertilizer several times a year. The plants will not be damaged by walking on them when conducting this maintenance. If the roof is occupied additional maintenance should be accounted for to make sure the roof is safe and comfortable.