Case Study: Restoration, maintenance and biodiversity, Mayfair

Bringing biodiversity to sedum

• As with all living roofs, extensive/sedum roofs have many benefits compared with normal flat ‘un-living’ roofs. These include helping to:
  • Improve the ‘roof-scape’ of the city
  • Extend the life of the roof
  • Reduce building energy consumption/costs
  • Reduce the urban heat island effect
  • Reduce surface water runoff
• However roof gardens that are only planted with sedum are not as beneficial as other plants to wildlife, nor are they as visually appealing.
• The owners of these office blocks in London’s exclusive west end, brought in the P&P maintenance team to tend and renovate three roof gardens covering 200m² to introduce more biodiversity.
• The strategy:
  • The sedum beds that were in an unhealthy condition were replaced with fields of lavender, bordered with other herbaceous plants.
  • The sedum beds that were in good condition were inter-planted with lavender.
  • Lavender – like sedum – is a low-maintenance, drought-tolerant plant, but it is far more beneficial to pollinators such as bees and butterflies.
  • Anyone who has enjoyed the lavender fields of France, knows that lavender looks and smells divine.
• The regeneration started in 2018. The maintenance team visit the three roofs monthly to tend to plants and remove the weeds.

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