Bee hotel design, creation and Installation by the Urban Greening Company. We have now installed numerous bee hotels across London attracting pollinators back into the city. This is something we feel strongly about at TUGC and we want to see bee hotels across the whole of London. These bee hotels have consisted of various shapes and sizes to meet our clients wishes.
We have used Marine Ply as the frames and a number of infill materials such as bricks and slates with crevices for the solitary bees to work their way into. We have also used logs from prime coppice woodland and bamboo for nesting areas.
Below are just some examples of our specifically made bee hotels in the last year.
Bee Hotel installed in Elephant and Castle
Bee hotel ready to be installed at Battersea power station
Nine Elms development working with elite landscapes
These are all examples of recent green roof maintenance carried out by the urban greening company team.
They are all perfect examples of how a green roof should look for this time of year with autumn coming to an end. However they have not always looked this good. We always recommend bi-annual maintenance visits and it is thanks to this maintenance that these roofs are looking so great.
Case Study 1
The roof below is situated at a care home in Highgate, North London. Residents look straight out onto the roof from their windows and seeing lush vegetation is something we want for them to enjoy. A couple of years ago this roof was not in the best of shape. Bi-annual green roof maintenance has seen the roof improve with each visit.
Using a bauder specialised fertiliser in the spring supplying the roof with much needed nutrients for the coming summer months and removing any weeds. This has seen the sedum flourish and we now see sedum coverage across the whole roof.
early morning sun
lush sedum coverage
aerial view of roof
Case Study 2
Another example below but this time a wildflower roof. Historically this roof could be quite patchy and not have a huge amount of vegetation coverage. Through extensive weed removal and keeping on top of any invasive vegetation we have seen wildflowers thrive. This picture shows some white star jasmine trailing onto the roof for added aesthetics.
wildflower roof
Case Study 3
The clients on the next roof were concerned about bare patches on their green roof in the heart of the city of London. As this was our first visit we decided to add extra sedum cuttings along with some generous amounts of substrate to act as a growing medium. Upon our return we were pleased to see this had worked. It is now a case of keeping on top of this roof with regular maintenance to keep it in top condition.
Sedum Roof installed at Beckenham Methodist Church, South East London. The Church is currently being renovated and this green roof was added onto an extension of the building. We finished the job in one day which consisted of many tricky cuts of drainage board and sedum.
Cutting around the numerous roof lights meant for a neat and tidy finish between small areas of vegetation and stone.
step by step process of the green roof installation.
We used a low depth of substrate on this roof. Due to access restrictions the drainage, fleece, substrate and sedum was carried up onto the roof by hand which wasn’t the easiest of tasks.
The roof will fit in nicely with the surroundings and will add some important green infrastructure to this area of South London.
alternate angle of the roof
Green roof maintenance is often overlooked. People either think their green roof simply doesn’t need TLC or green roofs can be just be neglected.
Another common belief when a green roof is struggling is that it is simply a lost cause. Fear NOT.
At TUGC we recommend carrying out maintenance on a bi-annual basis.
Below is an example of a green roof we maintain and the difference before and after maintenance.
- Improve and protect your asset
- Maintain high quality vegetation
- Keep vegetation healthy
- Remove dry and dead thatch to reduce fire risk
- Keep drainage channels clear
- Maintain water attenuation to reduce flood risk
- Improve valuable wildlife habitat areas
- Inspect drainage outlets and other roof features such as PV panels
before maintenance
after maintenance
A 10 metre high living wall has helped enhance a wooden decked courtyard area at three storey flat conversion in the centre of the historic leather market in Bermondsey, London.
The 30 sq.m. wall containing 1500 plants offering colour and depth in a tight compact space.
We regularly maintain this wall keeping it in good shape all year round.
Living wall at Bermondsey London with the shard in the distance.
We have been maintaining this exterior living wall at one of Londons top hotels The Rubens Hotel next to Buckingham Palace for 5 years now.
The boys scaling the living wall.
Our Bi-annual visits see the wall given a good haircut. We also install new plants with each visit to maintain the walls striking presence. Located in one of the busiest areas of London. This beautiful living wall is seen by thousands of people every day.
The cradle is built and dismantled on each of the three sections of the wall. This provides us with safe access and enables us to gain maximum coverage each day.
Our ongoing Maintenance has created a lush and thriving living wall. As a result we are helping combat London’s noise and air pollution levels.
TUGC has just completed the installation of plug planted green roofs across three blocks of quality passivhaus dwellings in Colchester, Essex. Providing 23 new homes, a mixture of one and two bed flats and 17 houses.
Preparing the green roofs for green roofs for installation.
We installed 800 sq.m. of green space running across the three buildings. Including an 80-120 mm build-up of substrate and 10,000 plug plants to offer broad biodiversity, as well as helping to provide sustainable drainage (SuDs).
Green roof base layers are being set out.
The Jerram Falkus construction includes the refurbishment of a listed Mill. This will become a shared space for social, domestic activities, and community events. The design team is led by Anne Thorne, an award winning eco-architect.
Substrate installed and the roof is ready for planting.
The buildings are designed and built to Passivhaus standards to achieve exceptionally low running costs, sustainable comfort and health.
Some of the 10,000 plug plants sitting waiting to be planted to complete the job.
Part of our summer work has been spent carrying out green roof remedial works on two large unmaintained roofs. One a 2,000 sq.m. roof on a school in Anglesey. The other being a lovely, 300 sq.m. sloping roof on a church in Reigate. Both needed replacement sedum across areas of the roof and a heavy dose of organic fertiliser to give them a chance of recovery. We also installed an irrigation system on the Reigate church to help the sedum cope with the gradient of the roof.
Repairing Large green roof Anglesey
Access was an issue at both sites with no design consideration for roof maintenance, but use of scaffolding towers helped reduce the pain, although seagulls’ nesting at Anglesey created a challenge!
Both sites provide a clear example of the need for regular maintenance and show how much this helps green roofs fulfil the purpose of sustainable urban drainage (suds) and biodiversity and extra biodiverse habitats in urban environments as well as ensuring they provide a point of beauty for locals.
About Us
The Urban Greening Company provide integrated green infrastructure planning, design, installation and maintenance services.
Experts in Green Roofs, Living Walls & Urban Biodiversity
Proud member of GRO
(Green Roof Organisation)
