Jay Angler wrote:Soooo... you don't have to mow artificial turf, but you do have to weed it - seriously! I met a guy on his hands and knees struggling to get tree sprouts out of his artificial lawn without damaging the lawn part.
Is the issue with plants dying that you have too many extremes? Dry, wet, cold, heat? Can you narrow down which of the extremes did in your early attempts?
I'm not convinced that you can't fix the roof problem other ways. Giving us permies a list of what you've tried, and what you think killed those tries, might give us ideas of how you can fix it naturally.
For example, have considered rocky mulch with succulents?
My first instinct is to agree with Jay. There must be a way to fix your problem without resorting to artificial turf, which my gut tells me is a temporary solution at best. It will degrade in time, needing replacement and, I suspect though I couldn't elaborate, giving rise to unforseen problems along the way.
Better in my opinion to have just mulch than to have, essentially, synthetic carpet on your roof. Perhaps a rock mulch would be a good place to start, as Jay suggested. Over time, observe what weeds establish in the rock mulch, and that might provide clues how to proceed with a green roof.
But in the meantime, yes, please elucidate: why do you believe your current green roof is dying?