CEF PF Living Roof

Our Living Roof

All of us enjoy the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the Mall in Washington D.C. Therefore, it was a real treat to get a call from Nan Sherman in June 2009, who had heard that the exhibit from Wales was going to include a living roof structure to be built on the Mall for the two-week festival. After the festival was over, a home would need to be found for the structure. Martha Clark jumped at the chance to provide a new home for the living roof and was soon emailing Smithsonian personnel and the people from the Centre for Alternative Technology www.cat.org.uk in Wales.

Working with Blanche Cameron and other staff from the Welsh Centre for Alternative Technology, the living roof structure was put on the Mall with materials supplied by local green roof experts, including Emory Knolls Farm in Harford County. Experts Dusty Gedge and Ed Snodgrass lead practical, hands-on workshops for a good idea of what is involved in designing, installing and maintaining a living roof.

Dusty Gedge is President of the European Green Roof Federation, co-author with John Little of ‘The DIY Guide to Green and Living Roofs’ and director of the UK based charity Livingroofs.org www.livingroofs.org The living roof structure on the Mall was built along the principles in the guide. It is online at http://livingroofs.org/DIY_Guide_intro.html and should be published as a book in early 2010. Dusty Gedge also wrote a blog about the construction of the roof on The Mall

http://dustygedge.co.uk/roadblog/2009/07/building-green-roof-on-the-mall-washington/

Ed Snodgrass is Director of Emory Knoll Farms and Greenroofplants.com, North America’s largest supplier of green roof plants www.greenroofplants.com He supplied the plants for this living roof!

Once the Festival was over on Sunday July 5, it was time for Martha Clark to jump into action. At 6:30 AM on Monday July 6^th she and George Miller and several other (including Martha’s son Nate Crist) arrived on the Mall to dismantle the structure. First the 200-300 plants were removed one by one and put in plug trays. Then the planting medium was removed bucket by bucket, filling the back of a pickup truck. Then the other layers were taken down and packed in the trucks. The structure then had to be taken apart board by board. By 12 noon everything was on the trucks and trailers and ready for the trip north to Ellicott City.

By Wednesday July 8^th the living roof was rebuilt at Clark’s Elioak Farm by George Miller and the plants were replanted by Martha Clark, Peggy Hannon and her daughter Paige on Saturday July 11^th.

Since then the roof has grown beautifully with wonderful yellow and orange blossoms in the morning and purple and pink blooms in the afternoon. Come visit our living roof and learn more about green roofs by checking out the websites mentioned above.

Admission Fee and Ride Prices	Castle Store	About our Animals	Our Farming History	Hayrides
Pony Rides	Cow Train Rides	Play Areas and Picnic Areas	Fall Pumpkin Patch and Pumpkin Chunkin'	Our Living Roof