News and Articles
New supervisor for Enviromat Green Roof Services
Mark Pawsey has joined the Enviromat
green roof services team as Enviromat Installation and Maintenance
Supervisor. Mark holds a National
Diploma in Horticulture and has been working in the horticultural and landscaping
industries for over 20 years. He’s been involved in everything from breeding
roses to laying patios and has recently been managing a gardening and hardware
store.
Mark will be working throughout the UK to install domestic
green roofs and to maintain commercial green roofs. He’ll be quoting for jobs and is more than
happy to advise householders, developers and facilities managers on how to get
the best results from their living green roofs, no matter what the planting
scheme or the roof build up.
When he’s not at work, Mark confesses to be a country boy
through and through. He’s from a farming
family, enjoys fishing and claims to be head cook for wife Lisa and children
Charlie, Harry and Chloe. He’s also an Arsenal
fan, not sure if that’s a good thing or not!
Enviromat started their green roof services division two
years ago as a response to domestic customers asking for help with installing
sedum roofs.
Green Roof Maintenance is a subject that is all too often
overlooked by buildings managers, yet a neglected green roof is unlikely to achieve
the effect that it was originally installed for. Mark’s green fingers can restore most green
roofs and maintain them in the condition that the architect/designer intended.
Contact Mark in the Q Lawns/Enviromat office on 01842 828266
or email mark@enviromat.co.uk. For more information about green roof
maintenance, please visit www.maintenanceforgreenroofs.com
or chat to Angela on Q Lawns’ stand S1702 at the Ecobuild show.
Job vacancy
Enviromat are looking for a Green Roof Landscaper for our green roof maintenance division.
This exciting opportunity will require a qualified person with experience of horticulture and a head for heights.
The salary package will be commensurate with working for a large, progressive, diversified farming group.
Enviromat is part of Shrubhill Farms Limited
For more information, or to apply for the post, please contact
Colin Brown
Shrubhill Farms Ltd
Corkway Drove
Hockwold
Thetford
IP26 4JR
email: ColinB@shrubhillfarms.com
Research begins into the effects of green roof maintenance
Most of the benefits of living green roofs can be attributed to the plants that are growing on them. Vegetation is clearly important for wildlife habitat and for aesthetics but they are also responsible for carbon sequestration, for the cooling effects of evapotranspiration, for filtering dust and pollutants from the air and for stablising the growing medium with their roots.
Experience has shown that without adequate maintenance, plant coverage is lost over time which leads to a loss of growing medium. Both are detrimental to the appearance of the roof.
Enviromat have begun working with Herriott Watt University to gather data to assess the importance of green roof maintenance and discover how performance is affected when the vegetative layer recieves no care or attention. This work is in the early stages and there are no definitive results as yet.
In the meantime, it's wise to check the condition of your green roof. Enviromat offer a free green roof inspection service. Simply e-mail recent photographs to angelal@qlawns.co.uk or telephone 01842 828266 to speak to one of our advisors.
Alternatively, visit stand S1702 at Ecobuild
Preparing a green roof for winter
It's a frequently overlooked fact that extensive green roofs need maintenance in order for them to deliver all of the benefits they were installed to supply.
A simple maintenance regime asks for two visits to the roof a year, one in the spring to check plant health and apply fertiliser if neccessary and one in autumn/winter to remove debris and unwanted plants and most importantly, to make sure that all of the drainage outlets are clear of rubbish and working properly.
Extensive green roofs frequently consist of mixed sedum species growing in a shallow layer of growing medium. Sedums are chosen because they are particulaly well adapted to living in poor soils in exposed conditions and they do very well on roofs BUT, there are two conditions that sedum plants cannot survive under. One is shade, the other is soggy ground.
It is therefore vital for the plants' survival that once autumn leaves have finished depositing themselves on top of the plants - so around November/December every year, facilities managers need to pick a fine, still day, don their woolly hats and their harnesses and get out onto the roof to check that all is well.
First job is to collect up all the dead leaves, carrier bags, rubbish and detritus that have found their way on to the roof in the last 6 months or so and remove them. Be especially vigilant in the corners, because that's where everything tends to congregate. Debris blocks sunlight from the plants, effectively keeping them in the shade and killing them.
Next, pull out any unwanted plants such as tree seedlings. They can form strong roots that are capable of damaging waterproofing.
Finally make sure that drainage outlets are clear and that rainwater can escape from the roof quickly and easily - water sitting on the roof for long periods of time not only increases the weight loading, it causes sedum roots to rot off resulting in the demise of the plants.
Where the facilities manager is pushed for time, or is not trained to work at heights, Enviromat offer a hassle-free green roof maintenance service. Our Green Roof Manager will carry out a free site assessment before advising on what work is needed and how much it will cost. Normally the cost is far lower than expected and the result is that any green roof will function far more efficiently throughout the year.
For more details, contact Mark Southwell on 01842 828266 or email marks@enviromat.co.uk
EcoBuild, here we come!
The Enviromat green roof maintenance division will be exhibiting at EcoBuild 2012 from Tuesday 20th March until Thursday 22nd March.
Green Roof Manager Mark Southwell will be on hand to answer any questions on the care, repair and maintenance of extensive green roofs regardless of planting plan or location.
A common misconception is that extensive green roofs are largely self-sustaining and don't need to be maintained in any way. This is untrue. Extensive green roofs are LOW maintenance, not NO maintenance. But experience has taught us that this message is all too infrequently passed on the the facilities manager once the building has been signed over.
The experience staff in our Enviromat green roof maintenance division will work closely with the facilities manager to ensure that a sustainable repair and maintenance program is devised and carried out, no matter what the age or condition of the roof. We can also provide a consultant for you in-house maintenance team. All of our staff are CSCS qualified and work to stringent safety standards.
Please visit us at EcoBuild stand S1702, or email Mark Southwell on marks@enviromat.co.uk for more information