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Green Roof Moss

Mosses have been used for years in Europe for green roof applications. The shade loving mosses available from Moss Acres are now being specified and used on several green roof projects in the U.S. at shady locations where conventional green roof plants are less ideal.

In a green roof application it appears that moss requires an inch or less of medium and can tolerate extensive periods of lack of rainfall once established. Provided it is located in a shaded or partially shaded roof location, moss can contribute to creating a truly bio-diverse green roof.

Moss is also lightweight and can dry out for weeks on end, only to absorb significant amounts of water and return to it's lush appearance soon after a rain event - the perfect traits for any green roof plant.

Mosses can add uniquely appealing colors and textures to green roof projects, and because Moss Acres ships three of its four varieties of mosses boxed dry, moss can be incredibly easy and cost-effective to install on green roof projects.

Upon attending a wedding recently, owner of Moss Acres, Al Benner looked up and snapped this photo. It shows a conventional asphalt shingled roof covered with naturally occuring Haircap and Fern moss, right beneath the shade of an oak tree. Beautiful, cooling, and water absorbing - nature has it figured out all by itself!

If you have a green roof project you would like to discuss, please give us a call, we too are learning all the ins and outs of moss and roofs, but based upon what we are seeing so far, moss seems to be well suited for many applications on green roofs...