The roof has never looked better, never contained as much diverse planting, and never fed as many bees – showing what other companies could achieve if they handed their rooftops over to a bee-friendly gardener to work with nature to create a pollinator oasis.
Much of the success this summer is down to:
- a comprehensive drip irrigation system that comes on every evening for an hour during the heatwave we’ve been having since mid June.
- allowing self-seeded flowers (weeds) like Great Willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum), Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea), Hawkbit (Leontodon hispidus), Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) and thistles to flower freely. I do draw the line at Fleabane as it completely dominates, and only honeybees seems to like it
- flowers I planted self-seeding such as the tall, yellow flowered Mullen (Verbascum thapsus)
- flowers I’ve experimented with doing well such as Comfrey
- reducing the number of Kniphofia (Red hot pokers) and keeping a check on the seedlings (again only honeybees seem to forage on them)
- having a pollinator ecologist survey the rooftop in spring/summer to record the species and the plants for Pollinating London Together.
Furrow bee on Hawkbit Great Willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum) Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea)
Calamint Centaura montana Dr Konstantinos Tsliosis surveying