Next week we welcome SPRING! Yes.
As a horticulturist, it’s always an exciting time to see what is emerging
from the depths of dormancy. For a green
roofer, this is also the time building owners often call, worried that their
system may not come back…. It may change a bit from year to year, but plants
always come back.
Change can be scary for
someone who may not fully understand the seasonal effect on green roofs. The last snow melt brings to surface brown
and dark red landscapes and some bare patches on the growing media. Turbulent spring storms challenge many
designs, but they usually prove to recharge the vegetated roof systems. The overburden further protects the roof
systems below from hail. The first signs
of summer droughts remind us that our supplement irrigation plans may need to
be explored, and that the plants were selected to withstand the maximum and minimum
temperatures! By the time heat breaks in
the Fall, green roofs thrive again as if they just realized they made it
through the worst of Mother Nature’s offerings that year. The first snowfall covers the landscape,
people wonder if their roof will survive, when in fact snow is the ideal
protector from minimum temperatures.
So much happens in
Spring. Customers tend to forget about
maintenance until there is a problem, and then we scurry around in April to get
the contracts signed. I wish it wasn’t
this way, but it always is. Winter weeds
were left alone, and now additional pressure to get them pulled before they
propagate. Ordering fertilizers and pre-emergent
for all types of roofs requires some time and thought.
Installation contracts
work their way back up the priority pile, and submittals need to be pulled to
order materials. My fellow soil blenders
and growers are equally busy, so sending purchase orders becomes critical…. In
other words, the phone keeps ringing and emails start flying.
In the Northern climates, neighbors
crawl out of the woodwork and start outdoor work. We evaluate what, if any, ice and snow damage
had on our gutters. My personal
community garden gets started. All the
seeds have arrived, and we set up a production line to sew the flats. My neighbor has grow lights and racks in her
basement (for veggie garden purposes only, we swear!) The spring bulbs in my boulevard plots start
peering out of the cold soil.
Days get longer because we get busier!
