Green roofs are a pivotal climate technology. Part of the effort to keep cities liveable and help nature recover. But also increasingly exposed to its ravages. Now, more than ever, its important that green roof specifications embody good design that’s well implemented.

After spending 2010 training in Switzerland where green roofs are mandatory, our founder, Lee Evans returned to the UK and launched Organic Roofs with the intention of bringing European quality to the UK market. We have since expanded our stable to include www.greenroofrevival.com which undertakes green roof maintenance for our installations, and provides consulting services including leak detection & repair, and diagnosing & restoring vegetation loss.

We work with forward-thinking ecologists, property owners, developers and designers to create robust green roofs that endure year after year and have an excellent reputation for embracing and helping to deliver architecturally-challenging and ecologically thoughtful designs. We like to work with good people, and our network of friends and collaborators include award-winning designers, ecologists and thought leaders. We’ve also won some awards ourself.

Our principles: green roofs and nature recovery

Extended weather patterns caused by climate change are making efforts to grow nature-rich spaces in thin substrates more vital but at the same time increasingly challenging. By taking this step you’re making a meaningful contribution to making cities more livable and better able to withstand extremes of heat and rain.

This is why we do what do, in ways that meet and if possible exceed, the national guidelines (there are no building regs except relating to fire). As growing in a breaking climate becomes more difficult, we’re doing our best and are excited to adapt and hone our knowledge – experimenting with drought specialist plants, moisture retentive materials, and circular economy green roof methods to reduce the the footprint of how we work. Continual improvement is our aim, but this is not a static craft which hasn’t changed for centuries. Buying our services is best thought of as a journey together, where we help you do your bit for nature recovery over time.

Here are some things to bear in mind as you embark on this journey, either for your property or your clients’:

We specify, install and care for green roofs that are optimised for nature, rather than aesthetics. Meadow roofs are not intended to be ornamental. They change from month to month, year to year, require regular care including aggressive cutback and additional planting to be at their best in season, meadows can (and should!) go brown in dry weather, ought to be cut back well before many people want to see the end of the flowering display) and can have bare areas. Meadow roofs do not prosper in very soggy conditions which will tend to grass and others that cope well like vetch. Some meadow and dry garden plants are happy in shade (sedum dislikes these conditions) The cost of plant replenishment and overseeding falls outside our maintenance agreement terms.

The health of roofs working well for nature is not best measured using percent coverage, and we don’t judge ours in this way. We have changed our terms and conditions to reflect our belief that. Bare areas are often an opportunity to overseed and try something new, not a cause for concern. Green roof good practice suggests a couple of maintenance visits per year. This is not likely to be enough for ornamental roofs (ie where aesthetics are the most important consideration). For roofs where appearance is paramount they should be treated like a garden and have a visit every couple of months minimum doing growing season (Mar-Nov)

Irrigation – its becoming unavoidable but its more important than ever to not use except when necessary – ‘enough’ is not always obvious, but always better to think of the water table we all rely on and err on the side of less not more.

We provide contract and reactive maintenance service through sister company Green Roof Revival but there are not warranties on planting, and care packages do not make us responsible for the condition of the roof, which can be affected by multiple factors beyond our control. We provide build ups and plants that meet or exceed national guidelines – these give plants the best chance of thriving but extended weather patterns, prevalence of invasives, leaf litter, excess watering, insufficient watering amongst other factors can all contribute to changes in appearance which some customers may find disappointing. As our T&Cs state, if vegetation struggles we can overseed to give new growth next season.