L10. Build a biodiverse green roof or wall at home
Unlocking urban spaces: Greening buildings for bidiversity
Even on smaller properties that don’t have gardens, there are creative ways to make space for nature on your building. Vertical greening can be achieved in many ways – from simple, attractive green facades using creeping or climbing plants, to more technically advanced hydroponic green walls that can be quite spectacular and lush. Rooftops also can be adapted to be inviting to urban nature, and also range from quite lightweight simple green roof systems with shallow soil to more technical, structurally reinforced rooftops with soil deep enough to support trees.
There are some free resources from the City of Melbourne and the Green Infrastructure Research Group, University of Melbourne, to help you pick the right plants and designs that will grow well and not damage your structure. The Growing Green Guide is a guide to greening on buildings in Melbourne using native species, and the Guidelines for Biodiversity Green Roofs can help you make sure your roof offers the best resources possible for local pollinators and birds.
In some areas, funds are available to support proposals for greening. For example, the Urban Forest Fund is a program which offers matched funding to exceptional greening proposals, large and small, in the City of Melbourne.
Case Study Burnley Biodiversity Green Roof, University of Melbourne
The Burnley Biodiversity Green Roof is located at the University of Melbourne’s Burnley Campus, which is utilised as a research facility and demonstration of a green roof that has a focus on biodiversity. The research that has been undertaken as part of the Burnley Biodiversity Green Roof has informed the Growing Green Guide, and been used to develop green roofs including the Pixel Building, The Venny Community Centre in Carlton and Minifie Park Early Childhood Centre in Balwyn.
Learn more information here.