A new client wanted five planters located on the third floor roof of their Clerkenwell office in central London. The roof was already covered in a sedum mat which had looked dead when we first visited in February, but when we came to do the install in June (the project had been delayed), the sedum mat was blooming! So we placed four 500mm x 500mm x 280mm wooden hexagonal planters on the four corners of the sedum mat to avoid disturbing existing bee-friendly flowers.

We filled the planters with long-flowering perennials as to feed a variety of bee species in late summer, and installed a drip irrigation system in case of a drought. On our first maintenance visit at the end of July, we were surprised to see so many bees.

On the yellow, peak-like flowers of Bird’s-foot trefoil trailing at the back of the planters we saw Common carder bees (Bombus pascuorum), on the purple Campanula flowers we saw tiny, black Yellow-face bees (Hylaeus) and the Furrow bees (Lasioglossum) with their longer, banded abdomen. We also saw the Furrow bees on the white daises of Erigeron karvinskianus.

The tall purple spires of Veronica attracted both Buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) and many small, black solitary bees which I couldn’t get a good photo of, so I’m not sure if they were also Furrow bees and Yellow-face bees.

In the autumn we will plant up the planters with Crocus and Grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum) bulbs for early flying bumblebees and Hairy-footed flower bees.

We will add a fifth, slightly larger planter in the middle of the sedum mat and fill with Rosemary and Wallflowers (Erysimum) to feed spring-flying solitary bees.

In spring 2025, we will also install bee hotels for cavity-nesting solitary bees to nest in, and maybe an observation box if employees are interested in discovering the lifecycle of solitary bees nesting on their office.

Watch this space…