Book Review: Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls

Planting on roofs and walls began in Europe, but it is now becoming popular all over the world. The environmental benefits of roof greening include reducing pollution and run-off, helping insulate against heat and cold, and reducing the maintenance needs of buildings.

In Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls (Timber Press www.timberpress.com) the authors describe the historical development of large-scale commercial and small domestic examples from around the world. The book explores the latest roof and wall greening methods and discusses the practical techniques required to make planting on roofs and walls a reality,

including weightbearing considerations, materials, substrates, draining layers and modular systems. There's a chapter devoted to planting choices, outlining the characteristics that make certain plants suitable for the extreme conditions encountered on roofs.

The book explains the various techniques necessary for planting on walls. It details fa??? 1/4 ade greening (where plants grow up steel structures pinned to the wall), and living walls (where plants are established in the wall or are able to survive independently on the wall without rooting).

The chapters are:

• Why Build Green Roofs?
• Components of Green Roofs
• Planting on Green Roofs
• Fa??? 1/4 ade Greening
• Living Walls, Structures and Surfaces

Supplemental material at the back of the book includes a roof-greening plant directory; fa??? 1/4 ade-greening plant directory; suppliers; a bibliography; and an index.

While the book answers the technical questions, it will also inspire the landscape architect to incorporate green roofs and walls in their upcoming projects.

About the authors:

Nigel Dunnett is a senior lecturer in the department of landscape at the University of Sheffield. He has developed innovative research programs into naturalistic and ecologically-informed planting for gardens and public landscapes. He writes for leading horticultural magazines and journals and lectures widely throughout the U.K .

Noel Kingsbury is well known writer on plants and gardens who has helped popularize a more naturalistic and sustainable planting style in The New Perennial Garden.