Up on the Roof

Sempervivum Grandiflorum

You know how it is, when you buy one thing,  you fall in love with it and then before you know where you are you've got them here there and everywhere. Well that's how it is with me! I bought this little plant last year from the garden centre. It wasn't too long before it was growing babies like they were going out of fashion. I potted them all up in polystyrene coffee cups - all you need is well drained compost, a bit of grit in it and a hole at the bottom of the cup to let the water get away. I bought a few more - one of each different varieties as I came across them - same thing and now I've got trays of them. Some months ago one of the local farmers put a few acres of his land on the market. We were intrigued every time we passed by to see all these rows of plastic sheeting across it and wondered what on earth was going on. The mystery was solved when our close neighbour, taking her dog for a walk, called by one evening. Apparently the people that had bought the land were  growing thousands of these sedums to provide an environmentally friendly green roof. And not only that, they were actually making a good living at it. It seems that the sedums are grown on root resistant matting. A layer of grit and the mat is rolled across the rafters providing an attractive practically maintenance free waterproof cover.   Not that these folks ever need worry about stiff competition, but I'd really like to have a try to make my own mini green roof even if it's only on the bird house.

Some of my cuttings

Green Roof at the Derwen Garden Centre

Watch this space!