Habitat at lofty heights
Making good use of small areas – golf courses can also do this when it comes to green roofs. “We even have kingfishers on the roofs of our small huts and some of the driving range buildings,” explains Dieter Worms, founder of the Gut Apeldör golf course in Schleswig-Holstein, enthusiastically. At Gut Apeldör, when constructing new smaller buildings or huts, the roofs are planted with a wide variety of vegetation – depending on the location.
Permanent food during the season
Whether it’s a herb roof, grasses or even a small selection of flowers – according to experts, the birds are not deterred by the height of the unusual habitats. On the contrary: they can easily fly to green roofs. They not only find seeds, plants or berries on the roofs, but also spiders, other insects or microorganisms of all kinds. Ideally, green roofs should be designed in such a way that flowering plants, which attract insects, are distributed on the roofs throughout the season.
Green roofs are becoming increasingly common on golf courses. At GC Großensee, like GC Apeldör in Schleswig-Holstein, a habitat has been created on the entire roof of the driving range hut. At the GC Wörthsee in Upper Bavaria, the Stadl, as it is called in Bavarian, is also adorned with a green roof. The Upper Bavarian golf club, which, like GC Großensee, has already won several gold awards in the DGV’s Golf & Nature program, is known for its numerous projects to promote biodiversity. If the areas on the ground seem exhausted, as the Großensee, Apeldör and Wörthsee golf courses prove, there is still room on the roofs.
Simple installation with mats
In most cases, green roofs are installed using so-called vegetation mats. They usually consist of a carrier layer with coconut fabric or fleece, to which a substrate layer with rooted plants is then applied. Roofs with vegetation, however, require a short maintenance session about once or twice a year. Weeds or unwanted plants are then removed. The green roof is also fed with slow-release fertilizer (not blue grit).
In the best case scenario, the birds feel so comfortable that they even use the roof surfaces for breeding. This also happens, but the roof pitch should not be more than 15 degrees. If you’re lucky, you might even see mallards, little ringed plovers, crested larks or gibbits breeding on the roof. When training from the driving range, this is definitely a view with variety.
Image: Petra Himmel