The Guardian Garden Editor, Jane Perone, has a lovely green roof on her office. Built about six years ago, Jane Perone had bought the guide to help her construct her green roof.
Jane Perone’s Beautiful Green Roof
Jane Perone – Gardening on a roof
Like many people who buy the guide, Jane says she lets her green roof be. So it is a no effort gardening green roof. The roof changes with the season and during extreme droughts does brown off. However once the rain comes, the roof blooms.
Chives in bloom on an urban green roof
A mix of sedum and wildflowers, the roof provides a good dash of colour. Chives are a great green roof plant as the image above shows. In the driest periods, they will often survive and give a vivid blue speckling amongst the brown.
Meadow on an office
Ideas for Jane Perone’s Roof
Dusty met up with Jane this week to do a podcast for the Guardian’s gardening blog. During the interview, Dusty mentioned using bulbs, both spring and autumn ones, which can give added colour at these times of the year. They are also an important source of nectar for early and late bees. We have a feeling that Jane will be adding a few to her roof, as she hasn’t planted any to date.
We have also heard that Jane plans to add an agave or two. Yes an agave or two. Now this didn’t come from us but another green roofer who features in the podcast – David Matzdorf. David is the proud owner of ‘a Mexican hillside in Islington’. David is a bit of a tropical gardener. His green roof in Islington, however, is designed along the same principles as outlined in the guide. The reason is quite simple – his house, like John Little’s was designed by the architect Jon Broome.
Podcast
We are looking forward to the Slow grow repeat podcast on Saturday – hopefully a few of you will enjoy it and green roofs will be popping on sheds, garages and extensions all over the country.
