Greenroof.co.uk - About Us

Blackdown Sponsor World Green Roof Conference 2010

As the UK’s leading green roof supplier, developer and installer Blackdown are proud to be sponsoring the CIRIA and Livingroofs.org two day World Green Roof Congress 2010 - Green Roofs for a changing climate, taking place on 15-16 September in London and hosted by Allen & Overy LLP.

To find out more about Blackdown, green roofing and hear from leading green roof experts from 15 nations, presenting over 50 papers. To find out more or to book your place at the World Green Roof Congress 2010

Our Company

Blackdown Horticultural Consultants Limited was formed in 1999 and is based in Somerset's beautiful Blackdown Hills. Our main area of expertise is in the design, supply, installation and maintenance of lightweight roof planting systems. As well as being visually attractive, these systems have numerous environmental advantages. We are unique in this country with regard to roof planting in that:

All our components are sourced in the UK.
We grow all our own plant material including our exclusive NatureMat® instant greening system.
Our schemes are tailored to the UK climate.

We offer a complete service from design to maintenance, nationwide.

In addition to roof planting systems we can also offer low maintenance ground sited 'greening' solutions based upon our Nature Mat® system. These are ideal for roundabouts, steep banks, sound barriers and tramway beds for example. With the correct installation techniques many areas considered difficult to plant and maintain can be 'greened' successfully.

We also provide the following technical services:

Horticultural consultancy.
Design and implementation of landscaping schemes.
Research and development.

We hope that the information here gives you an indication of the enthusiasm we have for the use of plants for both aesthetic and functional purposes. We also hope that you will agree with us that plants are the solution to many of the environmental questions posed by the built environment now and in the future.

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Consultancy

BHC is a company with a very wide range of technical and academic plant related skills and experience. BHC offer a consultancy service on any aspect of roof planting in addition to design, production, supply, and installation services. We also offer a very wide range of other plant related skills ranging from commercial horticultural production both temperate and tropical, landscape design and plant selection, to planning and management of trials, research and development. The form that the consultancy service can take is very flexible. Please contact us so that we can identify the best way to meet your requirements.

Design

Design of our green roof systems is very much tied to our own experience, analysis of German systems and findings from our ongoing trials in this country. Our systems essentially have two components, the aesthetic and the functional. The former describes the nature of any visual appeal that is required. The latter refers to the important functional aspects of the planting which could include improved building performance, reduced environmental impact or habitat creation. A consultation process is used to determine the type of roof required and whether that can be achieved within the framework of structural limitations, prevailing environmental conditions and time scale. Once this has been determined we can combine relevant drainage, substrate and plant components and the appropriate methods of installation to create the desired result.

We also offer a similar consultative design process to meet your other landscaping needs, whether interior or exterior.

Research and Development

Our roof planting systems already perform very well both visually and environmentally; however, we do not underestimate the value of constant assessment and have an active research and development programme. In addition to our trials base in Somerset, we have used roof trials sited the length and breadth of the country to fine tune our systems for anywhere in the UK. We have also set up roof planting trials abroad. At present, areas of research include:

Substrate composition with particular regard to weight, sustainability and plant performance.
Dynamic analysis of rainwater management by various planted systems and the effect of roof pitch on this.
Drainage layer construction with regard to water retention characteristics.
High pitch and ground level greening applications.
Total system composition with particular regard to wildlife habitat creation.
Extending the range of suitable plant species and determining their requirements for optimal performance.

We believe attention to detail is important whether this is driven by our own monitoring or by input from potential customers. We welcome open discussion as to your requirements.

Production

At our base in Somerset, we use both controlled environment areas and open field sites to produce all of the plant material used for our green roof systems. We have identified many plant species as being suitable for roof planting in the UK. We have also determined the best methods for getting these plant species to establish on the roof. For each of these species we produce plant material in one or more of three basic forms:

Cuttings and seeds. These are spread on the prepared roof. The cuttings root and seeds germinate to establish the plant layer on the roof.
Plug plants.These are young plants that are manually installed into the prepared roof soil or substrate. The plug plants establish to produce the mature plant layer.
Nature Mat®. Our own exclusively developed system, Nature Mat® is pre-grown to maturity in our fields. Nature Mat® can then be rolled up, transported to the roof and unrolled to give an instant green roof. For more information, see the main menu.

We always carry stock of all the above material for a wide range of suitable plant species. In addition, plant material can be contract grown to your own specification.

© 2006 Blackdown Horticultural Consultants

Street Ash Nursery, Combe St. Nicholas, Chard, Somerset, TA20 3HZ, UK.
Tel. +44 (0)1460 234582

Business hours 9.00 a.m.- 5.30 p.m. Monday to Friday.
Visits by appointment only.

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