Archive for September 2008
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
By John McPhee
John McPhee wrote The Pine Barrens in 1967, when he went to explore the area of southern New Jersey because he “found it hard to believe that so much unbroken forest could still exist so near the big Eastern cities.” The Pine Barrens is an area rich in biodiversity as well as historical and cultural significance for New Jersey. It is home to a pygmy forest of miniature pine and oak trees, large scale cranberry harvesting, rare and interesting plants, and a unique history of industry, manufacturing, and becoming our country’s first National Reserve. McPhee wrote The Pine Barrens initially…
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Friday, September 26th, 2008
Yesterday, we discussed how the majority of the Kemp Hall green roof was planted. Today, we will explore the remaining level and the excitement that a few more inches of growing media can bring. The remaining level was planted using a different technique because it is the semi-intensive section. This portion of the roof features mounds of the growing media eight to ten inches thick allowing for planting of perennials and bulbs, and a paver area to allow tours to step out onto the roof.
To plant this portion of the roof, plugs were used instead of cuttings. Plugs were chosen…
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Thursday, September 25th, 2008
On Monday, we completed the installation of the 3rd green roof on the Swarthmore College campus by planting 15 different types of sedums and 7 other types of plants on the roof of the new dorm, Kemp Hall. Two different techniques were used to plant the five levels of this roof.
Four of the five levels were gently scattered with 100 lbs of 6 different types of sedum cuttings. These varieties were mixed by hand as seen in the image above.
Sedum is the most common plant chosen for extensive green roofs because it can tolerate and thrive in all of the…
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