Planting A New England Green Roof

Wilder Contributor Will Clausen is a self proclaimed nordiphile. Beards, salmon, cold weather- he cultivated a love for these things living in Sweden, exploring his family’s scandinavian roots. Maybe that’s why he seems to have a knack for putting together a really beautiful green roof. The scandinavians are masters at these things after all.

Green roofs have come a long way since the timberless people of Iceland started piling slabs of sod on their stone and driftwood houses. Today green roofs are state of the art. The California Academy of Sciences, for example, boasts a 197,000 square foot green roof, subtended by biodegradable root mats. The plants form a sea of native vegetation creating urban habitat, capturing rain water and reducing the need for heating and cooling in the building.

Will’s green roof blankets the shed at Garden in the Woods, an all native botanic garden in Framingham, MA. Working in New England, Will faces the varagies of northeastern weather- sweltering hot summers, freezing cold winters, and unpredictable swaths of dry and wet. Making it a little easier on himself, and keeping with the garden’s theme, he’s going native. Planting the shed’s south side with long rooting, drought tolerant prairie grasses, and the north with colorful New England stalwarts like blue eyed grass (Sisyrinchium) and lupine (Lupinus perennis) this little shed will be an oasis for some species not often seen in the area. Peak season will be in May when Will’s roof blooms sky blue.