The Professional Design Guide to Green Roofs

Until recently, most green rooftop gardens were little more than variations on sedum mats on four inches of soil. Now, designers are creating cutting-edge green roofs that focus not only on critical environmental issue like heat, storm management, and ecosystem development, but also on the aesthetics, offering beautiful, livable, sustainable landscapes.

The Professional Design Guide to Green Roofs is a comprehensive exploration of rooftop garden design and the process behind it. It covers everything landscape architects and garden designers need to know to create a beautiful garden in the sky.

With lush photography, international examples, and solid how-to information, this is an essential resource for all design professionals.

Karla Dakin specializes in artful, environmentally bold landscape. Shaped by a career in the art world, her work continually references visual art. Dakin’s international projects include the roof garden of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, Colorado, and the Rock House in Northwest Cameroon. She divides her time between Colorado and California with speaking engagements the world over.

Lisa Lee Benjamin creates and nurtures large landscapes that unite people, art, and science. The portfolio of Evo Catalyst, her San Francisco-based design consultancy, is filled with sustainable solutions for diverse animal and human habitats. These include green roofs, hedgerows, wetlands, food and forest systems, and stylish gardens for residential and commercial use. Lisa thrives on collaboration with artists, scientists, and specialists as exemplified by her design of the unique habitat parapet at the Heron's Head EcoCenter. She is a founding member of Alpine Initiatives, Urban Hedgerow, Growwest, and the Bay area's Green Roof Alliance.

Mindy Pantiel has been writing about architecture, interior design, and gardens and landscapes for three decades. Her articles have appeared in Metropolitan Home, Western Interiors and Design, Better Homes and Gardens, Garden Design, Garden Ideas and Outdoor Living, Garden, Deck and Landscape, Traditional Home, Luxe Interiors and Design, and Connecticut Cottages and Gardens, to name a few. She helped launch and served as editor of the magazine My House in the Mountain States, and is author of several books on computers and architectural trimwork.