Green Roof Training » bees

Black Horehound (Ballota nigra) – Green Roof Plant

DustyG — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 07:26:37 +0000

Black Horehound (Ballota nigra) is a great plant for wildlife on green roofs. It is a perennial, with heart-shaped, bright green, toothed leaves that turn black once the plant has flowered. The stems go a purple/black as well. But it is the mauve/pink flowers that make it a star plant for bees, butterflies and other [...]

Flax (Linaceae) – green roof plants

DustyG — Mon, 30 May 2011 16:27:52 +0000

Flax (Linaceae) can be found on green roofs throughout the northern temperate world.

I have seen them on roofs in Canada and in the US, including Narrow-leaved (Linum bienne) and Western Blue (Linum perrene), which is the best species to plant in the UK. They grow readily on green roofs in the UK and across Europe. [...]

Green roof plant of the week – Bulbous buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus)

DustyG — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 14:42:27 +0000

A bright yellow plant of dry pastures, grassy slopes and well-drained calcareous soils the Bulbous buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus) is well suited to extensive green roofs of a reasonable depth -greater than 100mm).

The bulbous root can survive the long dry periods that green roofs can be exposed to and also give’s it’s old and alternative name [...]

The First and Last Green Roof England

DustyG — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 17:14:54 +0000

The green roof installed in Sennen Cove, near Land’s End Cornwall has past through it’s first winter. Considering the weather in Cornwall this winter the roof is doing really well. It is probably the first and the last green roof in England as the pub up in Sennen itself is called this.

The Thrift (Armeria maritima) [...]

Green Roof Plant of the Week – Wild Thyme

admin — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 11:43:40 +0000

Wild thyme is a native perennial that forms a scented cushion or mat of pink flowers. It can be found in a variety of dry grassland habitats from in chalk to heaths to cliffs to dunes. This makes it ideally suited to green roofs, so much so that there is a potential for this plant [...]

Green roof plant of the week – Red Valerian

DustyG — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:20:58 +0000

Originally from the Mediterranean, this showy plant can be found on walls, waste ground, railway banks and cliffs. As it thrives in well-drained soils it is a perfect for planting on green roofs.

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Centranthrus ruber and Common Blue Butterfly

The plant also has a long flowering season from early summer [...]

Green roof plant of the Week – Harebell

DustyG — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 17:22:41 +0000

The harebell, [bluebell in Scotland], is a classic green roof plant. It is common on roofs on continental Europe and can be found on roofs in Canada, and the UK.

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It can be found at ground level in varied dry habitats such as short grassland, heaths, dunes and cliffs. [...]

Green roof plant of the week – Lady’s Bedstraw

DustyG — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 17:34:04 +0000

Lady’s Bedstraw is found on dry, sandy sites, grasslands and dunes. Being suited to dry and well drained situations make’s it an ideal for green roofs.

Burnet moth on Lad's Bedstraw

The small yellow flowers are very attractive to a range of wildlife, especially butterflies, bees and moths. Specific species include Six-spotted burnet moth [...]

Green roof plant of the week – Ox-eye daisy – Leucanthemum vulgare

DustyG — Sat, 15 May 2010 07:36:09 +0000

This ‘moon’ daisy is a great plant to sow or plant as a plug in a both small and large green roofs. It is a very common green roof plant on the European continent, when establishing dry grassland green roofs. At landscape level – it is often a short lived perennial of grasslands, disturbed soils [...]

Green roof shed of the month – Carport/Essex

DustyG — Sat, 08 May 2010 16:49:08 +0000

Not exactly a shed, but built in the same way as we recommend according to our guide, this great building in South Essex sits amongst the agricultural land. The green roof offers a wonderful ecological resource for bees and other bugs in one of the most important areas of the UK for rare invertebrates. Whilst [...]