FAQ?

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Why Sedum and whats special about Greenrooftops?

Here at Greenrooftops we are passionate about Sedum because quite simply we believe it is the best plant for a green roof. There is no other plant that will perform as sedum does on a roof giving a good result with low maintenance. 

There are a number of factors driving towards this answer and here they are:

Drought resistance: Sedum is one of the most drought resistant plants you can find enabling it to be used on a roof without requiring any watering system in the UK.  

Weight: Sedum is very shallow rooting  and this enables a sedum roof to only have a thin layer of substrate. This results in the build up of the green roof being as light as possible. If you wanted to grow wildflowers or grass, then you would need a much deeper substrate layer as they are deeper rooted and need a much larger reserve of water to survive or an irrigation system. Thus a sedum green roof is the lightest option.

Maintenance: Sedum pretty much looks after itself requiring the minimum of maintenance. Just a light sprinkling of a slow release fertilizer once or twice a year is really all that is needed. 

Weeds: A Sedum roof with a thin substrate layer will dry out in the summer and any weeds present will probably die or at the very least be extremely unhappy allowing the Sedum to prevail. If any weeds do get established then the best way is to remove them manually, unfortunately there are no weedkillers that can be used with sedum

Why not Wild Flowers? 

Well for all the reasons outlined above! You need a deeper substrate as most are deeper rooted than sedum, this will be considerably heavier. You will probably also need a watering system to stop them dying in the summer, and the conditions you then create will be a haven for any weeds that arrive. Thus a wild flower roof will be much heavier on the maintenance if you want to keep it as such.

So for a low maintenance lightweight green roof, then Sedum is the plant and Greenrooftops product is the best.

Greenrooftops Tray or Blanket for your green roof

We grow and supply both the tray and all the component parts for a blanket system.

The tray based system, although slightly more expensive than a blanket (roll of sedum turf) results in a lighter result. Because the trays are mechanically filled, in two layers with a drainage layer first and then a substrate layer above we can ensure that the makeup is controlled and accurate.

Installation is remarkably simple - you just take the trays off the pallet and click them together on the roof. Thats it! - you need no expertise or knowledge.

A blanket based system is the opposite, requiring a drainage layer, loose compost raked out and finally the blanket to be laid on top. But that's not the end of it, you have to have some system in place to ensure that the loose compost does not escape into the gutters and block your drains, the compost is heavy to rake out on the roof and rolls of sedum blanket can weigh in excess 50kg . All these complications make a Greenrooftops tray at 12kg with its ease of fitting look more enticing.

So what is so special about the Greenrooftops tray?

There are a number of trays on the market, some that even look very similar but we believe ours is actually a bit special. The volume of the tray is important as this determines the amount of growing media and weight - too little and the sedum will not flourish, too much and you create an environment where weeds can also get established. The tray has two layers of substrate: a  drainage / filtration layer of lightweight aggregate, with a layer of our specially developed compost on top. The tray itself has a small water reservoir and special filter slits to allow excess water to drain away. The sides are strengthened with a lip which clicks together with its neighbour to provide a secure joint.