The legislation of a growing number of countries is making roof gardens mandatory for certain structures such as commercial and public buildings. As this market is expanding, so have the materials used for roof gardens substantially evolved. Instead of deep soils and containers that require special structural reinforcement for support, new substrates made out of lightweight materials have become more popular. The depth of these substrates generally varies between 10 and 20 cm (4 to 8 in.). The traditional roof gardens however, consist of heavy soils and containers which often require modification of the structural system of the building.
In practice, green roofs generally have a shallow root zone, often have difficult access to the site for watering, and are subject to conditions of extreme temperature, drought and wind that exist on exposed roofs which limit the choice of plants.
By incorporating TerraCottem Universal into the growing medium, the soil’s water and nutrient retention capacity is increased, making the plants more resistant to the extreme weather conditions and allowing the use of a wider variety of plants.
A green roof is generally made out of the following layers: water and root repellent membrane, drainage layer, a filter layer, lightweight growing medium and plants.References
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Roof garden at Takino Hills State Park, Japan. Soil pre-mixed off-site with TerraCottem Universal |
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KOC Smichov, Prague, Czech Republic: general view of the roof garden shortly after planting |
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KOC Smichov, vertical wall: 58° slope, picture taken 4 months after planting |
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KOC Smichov, vertical wall picture taken 7 months after planting |
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KOC Smichov roof top, picture taken 4 months after planting |
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KOC Smichov roof top, picture taken 7 months after planting |
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Darling Harbour Park, Sydney, Australia |
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Roof garden in Belo Horizonte, Brazil with TerraCottem Universal |
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Roof garden in Southern Spain: 100g TerraCottem Universal per m², 20 cm deep. Picture taken just after seeding. |
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Two years later |
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Garden on above-ground surface |
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Two years later |
By incorporating TerraCottem Universal into the growing medium, the soil’s water and nutrient retention capacity is increased, making the plants more resistant to the extreme weather conditions and allowing the use of a wider variety of plants.
More Growth, Less Water
TerraCottem, Leading soil conditioning technology.