Wildflower Turf and Green Roofs

Wild Flower Turf started out as an idea to diversify away from more standard turf production to try and improve the range of plants available to landscapers looking to improve biodiversity in areas that otherwise might be developed as a monoculture.

It is grown using a soil free production system. This system started life producing top quality lawn and pitch turf (and continues to do so), but by including native grass and wildflower seed instead of lawn seed, Wild Flower Turf emerged!

 The advantage of the soil-less system is that it relies on the plant roots to hold the turf together giving a very robust turf without the weight associated with conventional soil based turf. Very importantly for the wildflowers, the process does not remove the plants roots when it is lifted – unlike grasses most wildflowers will not survive if its roots are cut, particularly those with tap roots.

Wildflowers prefer open areas and will not thrive if they have to compete with other more aggressive plants. The soil-less system allows a lower plant density encouraging the development of less dominant plants ensuring a variety of species in the turf. Once laid as a turf it acts as a weed blanket suppressing weed seeds in the prepared soil.

The interest in green roofs has opened another market for the turf. Sedum mat is widely used on roofs in this country although ‘wild’ green roofs are popular in Europe. Wild Flower Turf can be used to give a much more diverse range of plants and this will encourage bees, butterflies and other insects and where used in urban areas, adds a look and an environment that is rare in the middle of a city!