The Siberian Roof Garden

This pioneering roof garden in central Moscow applies research on resilient steppe vegetation that later informed Anna’s doctoral work on steppe communities as habitat templates for urban applications. Steppe perennials introduced from regions with colder winters and subalpine species form a living mosaic able to withstand the city’s cold winters and increasingly hot, drier summers.

Cold winter temperatures pose a major challenge for roof plantings in Moscow, as local species cannot tolerate substrates that freeze solid. In natural ground conditions, a stable snow cover insulates the soil, preventing it from freezing below a certain depth even during prolonged periods of –25 °C. On roofs, however, snow is quickly blown away, exposing the substrate to deep frost. By contrast, the Siberian steppe species originate from regions with sparse snow cover and winter temperatures regularly reaching –35 °C and often falling below –50 °C, as in Yakutia, making them fit to the exposed conditions of a roof environment.

This semi-intensive green roof combines several designed plant communities. Substrate depths range from 300–350 mm for the steppe plantings to around 600 mm for the shrubs and small trees. The plantings include a steppe meadow inspired by the petrophytic steppes of eastern Siberia with the addition of a few European steppe species; a subalpine assemblage with Larix sibirica, Betula nana, and Bergenia crassifolia; and a layer of hardy, drought-tolerant shrubs such as Sorbaria sorbifolia from the Russian Far East. Trees and perennials were introduced to Moscow from a nursery in Krasnoyarsk.

The result is a naturalistic roof garden of striking colour and texture, shaped by the resilience of Siberian flora.