Blog  September 14, 2011

Green Roof at the Centre for Green Cities

By Stuart McPherson, Stewardship Coordinator, Evergreen Brick Works

On Tuesday, September 6, the Gardening and Stewardship Group kicked off the planting season at EBW by getting their hands deep down in the soil of a garden atop the Centre for Green Cities.

Seventeen species of plants were selected for us by green-roof expert Mathis Natvik, owner of Natvik Design Inc. His selections were based on our growing medium (a combination of gravel and soil), the amount of light recieved (the building shades the garden from the south and east for several daylight hours), and growing conditions (the plants will have to survive droughts, high winds and severe winters). A green roof has to stand up to a lot—that’s why they tend to mimic natural environments like mountain-sides and alvars.

The green roof here at EBW provides wildlife habitat, storm water retention, space for urban agriculture, and insulation against heat and cold.

Community Greening Volunteer Leader Jenny Hill, a studying landscape architect, took the lead in laying out the plants. She worked with the group to help create a plan that looked good and would make sense as the plants grew.

It about an hour, all 317 plants were planted, watered and ready to establish themselves before the winter comes. Check out the gallery below to see our progress.

If you’d like get involved in other public plantings, there are quite a few more coming up over the fall. Take a look at our events calendar for one happening in your region. And if you’d like to see the garden, come up to the 5th floor of the Centre for Green Cities building, and see how it keeps getting greener!

What were the 17 species planted? Take a look at the list below and learn more about them on the Native Plant Database!

Wild Yarrow – Achillea millefolium
Nodding Wild Onion – Allium cernuum
Wild Chives – Allium schoenaprasum
Wild Columbine – Aquilegia canadensis
Blue Wood Aster – Aster cordifolius
Poverty Oat Grass – Danthonia spicata
Side Oats Grama – Bouteloua curtipendula
Spotted Bee-balm – Monarda punctata
Cat-mint – Nepeta recemosa
Hairy Beardtongue – Penstemon hirsutus
Wild Moss Phlox – Phlox subulata
Six-angled Stonecrop – Sedum sexangulare
Autumn Stonecrop – Sedum spectable
Appalachian Stonecrop – Sedum ternatum
Hoary Vervain – Verbena stricta
Prairie Goldenrod – Solidago nemoralis
Ohio Spiderwort – Tradescantia ohioensis