Plants with Horticultural and Ecological Attributes for Green Roofs in a Cool, Dry Climate

Abstract

Green roofs are building surface treatments where plants are grown in medium on a rooftop to cool or insulate buildings and/or to ameliorate negative environmental impacts of buildings. We initiated a 2-year study to characterize medium and weather conditions on a rooftop in a cool-dry climate and to identify plant species with horticultural and ecological attributes that survive and thrive on an unirrigated semi-intensive green roof in a cool-dry climate. Eighty-eight cold-hardy, drought-tolerant species with horticultural or ecological attributes were identified and planted into 12.7-cm-deep medium in trays that were placed on a rooftop. Medium temperatures and moistures were recorded, and plant survival and vigor were quantified. Hourly medium temperatures varied from –22.3 to 43 °C. Monthly medium water moistures varied from –2.5 to –73.3 kPa from May to September, and from –7.6 to –195 kPa from October to April. Monthly air temperature, relative humidity and irradiance varied from –9.4 to 21.7 °C, 44% to 80%, and from 206 to 1222 μmol·m−2·s−1. Mean survival scores decreased (4 = 100% survival) from 2.6 with grasses, to 2.3 with succulents, to 1.8 with temperate perennials, to 0 for geophytes (all died). Among grasses, Festuca ovina VNS, Koeleria macrantha 07-901 ND, Panicum virgatum, and Sporobolus heterolepis performed well. Among succulents, Sedum acre, S. album ‘Coral Carpet’, S. cauticola ‘Sunset Cloud’, S. ‘Czar’s Gold’, S. ellecombianum, S. hybridum ‘Immergruchen’, S. requieni, S. sexangulare, S. spurium ‘Dragon’s Blood’, ‘John Creech’, ‘Pearly Pink’, ‘Ruby Mantle’, and ‘Tricolor’ performed well. Among temperature nonsucculent perennials, Allium ceranum and senescens ‘Glaucum’, Geum triflorum, Talinum calycinum, and Thymus praecox ‘Red Creeping’ performed well. Data on Sedum suggested that medium-low temperature was more limiting to survival than moisture level. The differences in species that performed well here, compared with other studies, underscores the importance of regionally specific green roof plant species studies.