The selection of plants for the roof garden should be carefully thought out. Robust plants that can tolerate a lot of sun are particularly in demand here. Find out below which plants are suitable for the roof garden and what you should pay attention to when choosing.
Which plants are suitable for the roof garden?
Robust, sun-tolerant plants such as low-growing trees, ornamental grasses, flowering plants and shrubs are suitable for the roof garden. It is important to have hardy plants and no deep-rooted trees to avoid damage to the roof.
Extensive versus intensive green roofs
Green roofs come in different thicknesses, which means with different amounts of soil. With extensive green roofs, the soil layer is only 5 to 24cm thick; With intensive green roofs, the height of the earth layer is at least 25cm and can be up to one meter thick. This allows the planting of almost all perennials, grasses, shrubs and even small trees. Therefore, the term roof garden is actually only spoken of when it involves intensive green roofs, as the selection of plants is very limited in extensive roof gardens. Sedum species, low-growing grasses and cushion plants are mainly grown here.
What to consider when choosing plants for your roof garden
Although in principle all plants can be grown on a roof garden, you should still pay attention to a few things when choosing:
- Pay attention to the location requirements of the plants
- Do not plant overgrown plants
- Make sure that all plants are well hardy
- Do not keep hardy plants in pots
- Plant plants that are as robust as possible
- Do not plant deep-rooted trees or shrubs whose strong roots could potentially damage the root membrane and thus the roof
- Be good neighbors when growing vegetables
Beautiful trees for the roof garden
If you would like to have natural shade on your roof garden, you can plant low-growing, shallow-rooted trees. These include:
- Crabapple
- Field Maple
- Cinnamon Maple
- Rock Pear
- Copper Rock Pear
- various birch species
- Yellowwood
- Japanese Flower Dogwood
- Cornell cherry
- Japanese Cornelian Cherry
- Quince
- Hawthorn
- winged spindle bush
- Gingko
- Flower Ash
Ideas for combinations and plant choices
Grasses are often planted on roof gardens: they are robust, easy to care for, usually very hardy and look very decorative. Plant a beautiful mix of ornamental grasses and flowering plants and shrubs on your roof garden. Roses also grow well on roof gardens. With bamboo or miscanthus you can create a beautiful, natural privacy screen and why not plant a few strawberries or lettuce too? Create paths made of mulch or gravel between the beds.
