www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

I'm toying with the idea of replacing the roof on the extension on our house with a sedum roof. The idea being to attract butterflies, birds, bees and hoverflies to the big flat sunny [currently lifeless] area outside my bedroom window. It's a big expense and so I'm wanting to be sure I know what I'm spending my money on. I was wondering if anyone has got such a roof or knows of a roof and can tell me a bit about it. Especially interested in hearing about any roof up north, Yorkshire way. (what varieties have been used and is it colourful and teeming with life or just a patchy scrubland?) Or even any suggestsions of what varieties of sedum (stonecrop) the butterflies like best?

Thanks

Ian

You are talking in pots

Gruditch

Not sure how much butterflies would use roofs - they do not like exposed, windy places - that said, some good places for butterflies are in such places on the coast. Bees, hoverflies, spiders and the like will be much less affected.

Here are a few links. If you are seeding onto a substrate, it seems that scattering a range of wildflower seeds on the substrate produces better results for wildlife than sedum on its own; my wife tried this on the roof of her old office, where we hoped to create habitat for a locally scarce moth, but we have yet to go back there and see the results. According to the first link, some companies providing sedum mats will provide mats with wildflower seed already added. I suppose you could always add your own, too.

http://www.livingroofs.org/NewFiles/Living%20Roofs.pdf

http://www.livingroofs.org/

http://www.thegreenroofcentre.co.uk/index.html - based in Sheffield

http://www.blackredstarts.org.uk/pages/greenroof.html

I'd found two of those sites already - but not the Sheffield one - Thanks - that could be quite useful.

The roof isn't too windy but catches a lot of sun.

I was considering the type of green roof where sedum is pre-planted into special matting, rather than into soil / rubble / pots. Although there would be less variety of plant that would grow, it looks cheaper, light weight, simplest and very low maintenance.

I know the ice plant (Sedum spectabile) attracts butterflies well (http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species. ... ell#Videos)(although I've not seen any on mine ) I was wondering whether other varieties of sedum are a good source of nectar also?

One website I was looking at offers the following varieties: Sedum acre, Sedum album (different varieties), Sedum pulchellum, Sedum reflexum, Sedum selskianum, Sedum sexangulare, Sedum spurium (different varieties), Sedum spurium 'Summer Glory', Saxifrage granulata.