St. Williams Nursery and Ecology Centre

Determining ideal native plants for green roofs

Challenge

Businesses have added an environmental element to their buildings by planning green roofs, but the species selected sometimes don’t last as long or as well as they could; they cannot survive low water conditions or the root system is too big for the small soil space.

Solution

The research team is conducting a multi-year study to determine the ideal native plant species for green roofs. A species must have a small root system and be drought tolerant, low maintenance, disease resistant, hardy, and be able to grow in specialized media. A species proves ideal for green roofs by surviving the group’s three-phase project.

Project Partners

St. Williams Nursery and Ecology Centre, DrammWater Canada, Grobark