Green Roof Garden Design

Green Rooftop Garden

I belong to the Landscape Design Alumni group through the affiliation with The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG).

The most recent meeting featured Barbara Geller, Gardens by Barbara, LLC, www.and a member of the group, who provided a top-notch presentation about the creation of a green roof at her country house in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. 

It ‘s a beauty.

I knew it was going to be a good lecture when Barbara started off by saying she had a “story” about Green Roofs. 

I respect and relate to a garden designer who emotes this way.  

I can feel their artistic soul.

I tell my garden design clients and lecture audiences, that every great garden tells a story. 

So no tutorial from Barbara, but rather, a story.  A compelling garden story.  The challenges and the triumphs. 

Barbara has told this story on several previous occasions. 

You immediately sense she is knowledgeable and passionate about this subject. 

Maybe it was from her previous job as an IT director at Deutsche Bank or just maybe it is her devotion to the subject and self-described attention to details.  

Or a combination of these elements.

Whatever the motivation, the presentation benefited from her professional research and documentation. 

She also brought samples of the green roof construction materials.

And provided informational handouts,  complete with resources that she secured from an NYBG symposium on Green Roofs, plant lists, roofing materials and growing medium – and costs.  And reference books: “Green Roof Plants – A Resource and Planting Guide” by Edmund C. Snodgrass, Lucie L. Snodgrass from Timber Press.

It was all very impressive.

And so is the green garden roof she produced. She and her architect, Jane Wilson, who are now friends, hails from Ford3 Architects, LLC, won an award for its sustainable design.
The garden has been a feature stop on local garden tours.

She began her story -- at the beginning! 

She started by defining what a green roof is. 

It is not a painted “green color” roof as one of her construction managers first guessed she wanted!

Green roofs are insulation. They improve the aesthetics of the environment. 

She pointed out that most people don’t think of the flooding that occurs in towns and cities when it rains because of the storm water run off and impermeable surfaces.

And of course, the green roofs sporting their plant profile much as a fancy hat shows off its saucy, sexy accoutrements.

Green roofs also reduce the Heat Island effect by 15-20 degrees.  The Green roof reduces cooling needs by 25% and in winter cuts heating loss.

Barbara showed amazing infrared photos that showed the difference in temperature

From the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to hospitals and corporate green roofs, and the preponderance of successful green roof design in Europe, particularly Germany where 10% of residences sport green roofs according to Barbara.  

She demonstrated it’s good business and good aesthetics to produce more green roofs. They are a major solution for a sustainable future.

She had me at Green.

Barbara told us she wanted to be able to look out her home office window and enjoy looking at the green roof garden.

She wanted the shape to mimic the undulating landscape.

She wanted to be able to see the green roof garden as she walks up to the house from the garage.

She told us how she searched to identify an architect who would even take on the project.

If green roof designs are all still new now, imagine the challenge of locating a pro who could it in 2008! 

She showed us the design and construction stages of the addition to the their once-upon-a-barn home. 

I love all that indigenous Pennsylvania stone that supports the walls and homes -- so gorgeous.  

And that stone is Barbara’s home and the addition where the green roof is the jewel in the crown.
The builder bought a local retaining wall, took it down and reassembled on site in order to match the existing stone. 

She walked us through the procedure of constructing the curved glulam beams: stronger than wood. These beams provided just the right pitch for the design too.

She suggested every vertical inch of green roof growing medium requires six pounds of square foot structural support.

"You will need a structural engineer," Barbara advised more than once. 

There are many elements that go into a smart green roof and Barbara had done it all: separation fabric, mesh layer, rubber layer, plywood, plastic anti-slip cleats to “hold” and stabilize the 4-6 inch layer of growing medium.

The cleats were secured from a German resource.

A green roof needs to be watertight. No holes from nails. 

The roof must be able to withstand the weight of the plants and snow - in our area. 

She had samples of everything for us to see firsthand.

She passed around a sample of the growing medium that we could touch.  It was selected specifically for the shade tolerant plants on her green roof.

It is gravel that is 25% compost and 75% expanded mineral aggregate or shale.

It’s expensive at $110 per cubic yard.  It is lightweight.

The way the growing medium is produced is fascinating.  It is put in a kiln to create cracks and fissures so the compost will “settle in” there. 

A typical green roof uses about 5% compost, she commented. 

She said she knew she needed more organic matter, as the plants she was using in the design were not the typical sedums that need less organics. 

Her green roof is what is referred to as “Semi Intensive.” 

See?  Every artistic genre has its own nomenclature.

The “Intensity” here refers to the depth of the soil.

How to get up to the roof, you ask? 

Initially, she had the builder provide her with a scaffold. 

(Curiously, she admitted she doesn’t like heights ^:^)

Later, and with obvious pride, she was beaming as she showed the spiral staircase she found on eBay for $500. 

Nice

The plants she chose for the green roof garden are a combination of native and tried plants from her garden cuttings that would provide a full, four-season display of color and bloom.
The plants needed to have fibrous roots. She used a lot bulbs.

She only has 2-4 hours of sunlight on the roof so that was a consideration too.

She was able to produce a “naturalized design.”

The plant palette included ajuga, phlox stolonifera or creeping phlox, geranium macrorrhizum or bigroot cransebill and yes, some sedum.

Almost all the green roof designs I’ve seen include sedum exclusively. 

It was refreshing and inspiring to see Barbara’s bold foray toward using a mix of seasonal plants – and using them to great success.

She is a leader in residential green roof design. Her home was a test. 

She passed with flying colors.

Her design is elegant.  The plants and the green roof complement the native landscape.

Contact her for your design. 

Green roof gardens are so glamorous.  (Just don’t tell them they are efficient too)

Another Green Roof source guide, according to Thomas Powell's "The Avant Gardener" is Green Roofs for Healthy Cities www.greenroofs.org  and at 416-971-4494.

Our finished cornucopia centerpiece by Nancy Burton from @int... on Twitpic

Our finished cornucopia centerpiece by Nancy Burton from @int... on Twitpic

A Night in Gotham: NYBG Garden Lecture and The Mayor's Awards for Arts & Culture

The final lecture in the 2010 New York Botanical Garden’s (NYBG) Landscape Design Portfolio Series was held Monday, November 8^th and featured Kate Orff. 

As described by NYBG literature, “Harvard Graduate School of Design alumna Kate Orff is the founder of the award-winning studio SCAPE. With a background in Political and Social Thought from the University of Virginia, and intensive training in ecology and the fine arts, her approach to the landscape merges strong form with community-based and participatory-change models.” 

Sounds fancy, but Orff talked a lot about relevant topics like urban biodiversity as it relates to her firm’s projects: Oyster-tecture, Safari 7, Bird Safe Design Guidelines, and the 170-acre Blue Wall Environmental Center. 

She is creative.  She even coins her own words.  Dr. Seuss-like.

There is the charming and disarming “Flupsificastion” for starters.

She is witty and urban.  And scrappy.

I loved her "start small with gardeners" approach to harness the power of the landscape strategy. 

"Start small and with what you know," she advised.  
She jokingly said she starts her projects with a Bake Sale!


She described the Big Fuzzy Rope catalyst for one project. 

The rope inspired her to create a series of futuristic Robinson Crusoe-looking pens or breeding areas for the oyster spats

She referred to oysters as “My obsession.”
By way of explanation, she said she is from Annapolis originally and her sister works on waterway preservation there.  
She employs the fascinating oysters to helping her clean up the Gowanus waterway. 
In addition to working with oysters, she also cited the workhorse grasses and mussels.

See how brilliant this is? 

Orff works WITH nature to build sustainable environments. She partners with them. She does not impose a man-made solution.

I loved all her passion for the oyster.

She said she is inspired by oyster life!  (Gotta get one of the “I Oyster NY” or Oysters Working t-shirts, she talked about.)

I love savoring the taste of oysters, of course. But I also am fascinated by its place in history – and Orff showed an early version of today's ubiquitous, twittering food trucks.  
These street vendors offered local oysters  -- if only today… sigh.  
She too lamented our lost connection to local food…

While the history and culture of the oyster is utterly fascinating, it’s the cleansing powers of the oyster that would bust a Mr. Clean any day. 

She also described in practical, conversational style her dedication to solving landscape problems such as pollution that is exacerbated by storm surges in the Gowanus Canal.

I think her most bootstrapped and successful project is Safari 7.

She conceived of the program to provide a tour of New York’s wildlife on and via public transportation. Specifically, the #7 subway line that takes passengers out to Queens.

She worked with New York City’s Mass Transit to produce a Safari 7 Metro Card (which can’t be easy given all the problems with MTA) and she secured mass transit ads through Arts for Transit.  (Yeah for Mayor Bloomberg.  And see following story below)

“I wanted this to be a student ‘Gorilla Project," she said.  Meaning no big, long lead-time effort. Rather a fast track to success ^:^

The #7 subway line was chosen as it encompasses a diverse population and topography.

She described the mapping, social networking experience of this project.

What vision and fun!

And I was thrilled to learn how she was able to produce onsite tours of the landscape featuring such scientific luminaries as Dr. Steven Handel!

http://safari7.org/dr-steven-handel-gives-a-weed-talk/

How lucky are the tour guests to have Dr. Handel, world-class scientist, as their guide  

I was lucky enough to collaborate with him and Dr. Clements on ecology and environmental projects in the past. Geniuses both. 

But before I got to the NYBG lecture, and this being New York, I was a bit oversubscribed for the evening.

There were two events I wanted and “needed” to attend this night.

First up on the evening’s schedule, following early morning garden design work in the blustery, rainy, early-hello-autumn weather – was the annual New York City Mayor’s Awards for Arts and Culture.  
The awards “honor individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the cultural life of New York City” according to the program.  What I didn’t know is that the awards were “presented almost annually until 1994… and the Bloomberg administration revived the tradition in 2004.”  
I was so honored to have attended the 2005 ceremony at Gracie Mansion to support our Botanic Garden president, Judy Zuk, who was an Awards recipient in 2005.   
Judy, we miss you….

This year’s event was held at the recently refurbished and elegantly designed Alice Tully Hall in New York City’s Lincoln Center.  All glass facade captures and reflects the glittering lights of the city.  Here the tables were already dressed for the celebratory cocktails to follow the Awards Ceremony topped by row upon row of glasses, waiting.

The ceremony was held in the theater and the stage was dramatically designed. 

As I was myopically looking for a seat and before things got under way, I got the chance opportunity to meet up with Marilyn Gelber, one of the award recipients.  I also saw Kate Levin, New York City's Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs. 






The event launched with the voice of Alec Baldwin – very god-like.  There was that unmistakable wry, sardonic humor that I love.   
But just voice, no Alec in the physical form.  sigh...   

The event was hosted by the Mayor, naturally. 

Co-hosting with Michael Bloomberg was Meryl Streep.  (and a fellow drama student of my sister’s at Vassar.)  And more than once she and the Mayor referred to her Garden State’s Bernardsville roots.  

But this night was dedicated to celebrating New York.

Meryl highlighted her Mother’s home in Flatbush, Brooklyn. 

This was a segue for the first honoree, Marilyn Gelber, Executive Director of the Brooklyn Community Foundation.   I know Marilyn and she is a tireless supporter of the borough and the community.  In fact, when I congratulated her before the ceremony, she humbly smiled and said, “It’s great for Brooklyn, isn’t it?” 

Very classy.

I very much came to the event in order to honor Bill Cunningham, New York Times photojournalist.

As shy and unassuming as Mr. Cunningham is in his work covering events for The New York Times in New York City (and the Garden State and Long Island, too) for the last 30-plus years he was surprisingly delightful and chatty this night!
He is known for riding his bike to the events despite his age, and when the Mayor called his name at the Awards ceremony,  he practically bounded on stage, camera around his neck.
He playfully aimed his lens at Meryl and the Mayor before taking his place for the photo opp and then behind the podium. 

He is utterly charming.  He exuberantly lauded the Mayor and his tireless support for the arts and cultural events, noting he sees Mr. Bloomberg at the high ticket and small community events alike.
Mr. Cunningham enthusiastically gushed about the vibrancy of New York’s cultural scene.
He said that when he heard the stats or Superlatives ticked off by the Mayor at the start of the night: (NYC has more than 1,200 cultural institutions that host hundreds of special events every year; Arts and Culture is a $6 billion industry); he was astounded.
And remarked that he doesn’t get to even half of the events!

Mr. Cunningham praised all the people who helped support the arts and culture at all the events he photographs -- “The people who give of themselves so that all these places can exist.”
He said he loved taking photographs of New York women. “They are marvelous.”
He also explained that unlike other places where people dress for work and then drive to the job or the day’s calling, in New York, it’s a street show for all to see and enjoy!
Displaying an animated, utter delight, he claimed “It’s what gets my adrenaline running!”
Clearly, this is a man who loves his job – and life.
He reminded us how lucky we are to live here in New York City – and in America.

He also claims he is just the “messenger.”

However, those of us who have been blessed and lucky enough to capture Bill’s eye and be a featured photo in his pictorial essays about life in New York where art, culture, and fashion collide, would counter that while he might be a messenger, it’s more like an angel-as-messenger sent to deliver a gift.
It is without doubt, a high point of life for those selected.  I know.  I speak from experience about this. 

And in no small part, it’s because of the utter, guileless charm of the angelic messenger.
It’s all so unexpected.  As Mr. Cunningham explained, it’s not a celebrity or society page in the New York Times.  It’s all about everyday life in our vibrant city.  I think that’s what makes it so special… It’s that feeling that this is New York and anything can happen here – at any moment. Everything is possible…

And for me, even though there were other awardees, it was time to scoot to the next event.  My chariot waited.  Well, it was really the #1 subway to Times Square, but I was in the bubble ^:^

Every Tree Tells a Story

From East Hampton Elms to The Garden State's 4,000 Flowering Cherry Trees in Branch Brook Park in Essex County/Newark to the Boxed Pines in North Carolina, the Cultural Landscape Foundation honors America's extraordinary trees - many under threat. 

TCLF Announces 2010 Landslide: Every Tree Tells a Story and Opening of Related Photography Exhibition at Aljira Center for Contemporary Art in Newark

http://tiny.cc/iu289

An photographic exhibit will premier at  Aljira, A Center for Contemporary Art. http://www.aljira.org/exhibitions/

It is an homage -- and a reminder -- to respect our trees.

The Cultural Landscape provides an online exhibit of the photographic art along with a schedule of where to view the exhibit in your area:

http://tiny.cc/and9a

What is very cool is that the Cultural Landscape Foundation has partnered with "American Photo" magazine to "create a traveling exhibition of original photography about these seminal trees, according to CLF. 

So far, it looks like the show is booked at the Philadelphia International Flower Show, March 6-14, 2011 and at LongHouse Reserve on Long Island April 4th. (Great place to visit any time!)

In addition, the images will be featured in the November/December 2010 issue of "American Photo" magazine. Get this at your news stand!

At the same time, sponsors Garden Design Magazine feature a news item about this important work:

Landslide: Every Tree Tells a Story | Garden Design

and sponsors Davey Tree Expert Company  http://www.davey.com/

I think we all know and romanticize how important -- and glamorous -- trees are.  

In movies from "Lord of the Rings" to "Avatar" -- not to mention the extraordinary poetry and songs that try to say how much we love our trees, these icons of our culture and the lungs - if not the heart- of our world, deserve no less than our total, unconditional love and support....

What is your favorite tree story or memory?