Intensive Roof Garden Depth

Features of intensive garden roof assembly.

Intensive roof garden depth.

Accommodates a wider variety of plants shrubs trees. Rooftop gardens support luscious greenery with a wide variety of plants including shrubs trees. The structural engineer must factor in the weight of completely saturated soil since the plantings and the soil will hold a significant amount of water. Deeper rooftop gardens with a total depth of more than 18 inches have a modified system build up because just as in natural soil profiles the deeper root zone has other properties as the top soil layer above.

The planting medium in extensive green roofs ranges from 1 6 to 6 inches deep and while deeper systems have been installed they are not favored as much as the shallower systems drought tolerant sedums succulent plants and grasses are the typical plants used since they are shallow rooted and use little water plant diversity on these roofs is kept low to simplify care and to be sure all plants have similar moisture requirements. Plant selection and design greatly affects the maintenance required for the upkeep of these roofs. Intensive green roofs offer a great potential for design and biodiversity. This system supports everything from small personal home gardens to full scale public parks.

Depth of growing media between 150 mm and 900 mm. A typical growing medium depth of an intensive green roof is 6 inches or more. Planting media for intensive green roofs are a foot deep at minimum and have saturated weights ranging from 80 to 120 pounds per square foot depending on type and depth of planting medium and the type of plants.