Synopses & Reviews
Green roofs and living walls are beneficial to the environment and enhance our surroundings, so their growing presence in our towns and cities is a reason for celebration. Behind every new implementation is a fast-moving technology that has precipitated the need for this fully updated edition of
Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls in which Nigel Dunnett and Noel Kingsbury reveal the very latest techniques, materials, and plants, and showcase some spectacular new case studies.
Planting on roofs and walls began in Europe, but it is now becoming popular all over the world as people become aware of its value in reducing pollution and run-off, insulating buildings and minimizing their maintenance needs, contributing to biodiversity, and providing food and habitats for wildlife. In Green Roofs and Living Walls the authors describe and illustrate the practical techniques required to design, implement and maintain a green roof or wall to the highest professional standards. Every detail is provided including the ways in which roofs may be modified to bear the weight of vegetation, the different options for drainage layers and growing media, and lists of plants suitable for different climates and environments.
This informative, up-to-the-minute reference will captivate professionals with its illuminating new findings, and encourage gardeners everywhere to consider the enormous benefits to be gained from planting on their roofs and walls.
Review
"For those who lack a yard and want to green a roof or wall, this resource offers important technical advice, along with horticultural recommendations for flat, sloped, and vertical surfaces. Dunnett and Kingsbury review examples of ornamental projects and stress the wide-ranging benefits of greening buildings, from recreational aspects to increased energy efficiency."
Review
"Gardening gurus will appreciate the thorough knowledge the writers share regarding various techniques and resources required to plant green roofs and living walls, discussing, for example, how soil depth and environmental stress will affect plant choice and maintenance."
Review
"Don't be put off by the textbook style. It reads well and packs in a huge amount of information, making it well worth the price."
—Cleve West, Gardens Illustrated, January 2005 Gardens Illustrated
Review
"Nigel Dunnett, senior lecturer at the University of Sheffield, England, and Noël Kingsbury, a well-known British garden writer, have given this growing landscape sector its first reference with broad appeal."
—Ed Snodgrass, American Gardener, November/December 2004 American Gardener
Review
"Discusses the very latest in both large scale commercial and small domestic projects. Reading this book is a wonderful requirement before starting construction."
—National Gardener, July 2004
Synopsis
The latest techniques for planting roofs and walls to enhance our buildings and benefit the environment. The green roof industry is booming and the technology changing fast as professionals respond to the unique challenges of each new planting. In this comprehensively updated, fully revised edition of their authoritative reference, Nigel Dunnett and Noël Kingsbury reveal the very latest techniques, materials, and plants, and showcase some spectacular new case studies for the non-professional. Green roofs and walls reduce pollution and runoff, help insulate and reduce the maintenance needs of buildings, contribute to biodiversity, and provide habitats for wildlife. In addition to all this, they are attractive to look at and enhance the quality of life of residents. In Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls, Revised and Updated Edition, the authors describe and illustrate the practical techniques required to design, implement, and maintain a green roof or wall to the highest standards. This informative, up-to-the-minute reference will encourage gardeners everywhere to consider the enormous benefits to be gained from planting on their roofs and walls.
Synopsis
The latest techniques for planting roofs and walls to enhance our buildings and benefit the environment. The green roof industry is booming and the technology changing fast as professionals respond to the unique challenges of each new planting. In this comprehensively updated, fully revised edition of their authoritative reference, Nigel Dunnett and Noël Kingsbury reveal the very latest techniques, materials, and plants, and showcase some spectacular new case studies for the non-professional. Green roofs and walls reduce pollution and runoff, help insulate and reduce the maintenance needs of buildings, contribute to biodiversity, and provide habitats for wildlife. In addition to all this, they are attractive to look at and enhance the quality of life of residents.
In Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls, Revised and Updated Edition, the authors describe and illustrate the practical techniques required to design, implement, and maintain a green roof or wall to the highest standards. This informative, up-to-the-minute reference will encourage gardeners everywhere to consider the enormous benefits to be gained from planting on their roofs and walls.
Synopsis
This book introduces a revolutionary new concept to gardeners--planting on roofs and walls. It describes how roofs may be modified to bear the weight of vegetation, considers the different options for drainage layers and growing media, and lists the plants suitable for different climates.
Synopsis
Discusses the practical techniques required to make planting on roofs and walls a reality, from modifying roofs to bear the weight of vegetation to selecting suitable plant materials.
About the Author
Nigel Dunnett is a Reader in Urban Horticulture in the landscape department at the University of Sheffield, where he has developed innovative research programs on naturalistic and ecologically informed planting for gardens and public landscapes. He is director of The Green Roof Centre, Sheffield, and acts widely as a consultant on green roof design and planting, and sustainable garden and landscape design in general.
He writes regularly for landscape and garden publications, including Gardens Illustrated and The Garden. With Noël Kingsbury he wrote Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls; with Andy Clayden, Rain Gardens: Managing Water Sustainably in the Garden and Designed Landscape.
Noel Kingsbury is a well-known designer, commentator, and writer on plants, gardens, landscape, and the environment. His doctorate in horticultural ecology from the University of Sheffield focused on the selection and management of ornamental perennials and he is still engaged in active research in this field. Noel is interested in combining natives and non-natives in ecological planting schemes and a passionate advocate for sustainable plant combinations that require minimal intervention from the gardener. He trials plants and gardens at his home on the border between England and Wales and travels widely.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Why build green roofs?
Constructing green roofs
Planting green roofs
Façade greening
Living walls, structures, and surfaces
Conclusion
Roof-greening plant directory
Suppliers
Bibliography
Further reading
Index