Wildflowers on the Roof

We recently worked with our good friend and landscape architect Britton Shepard (https://www.seattlelandscaping.com) to develop a custom greenroof seed mix for a project near Seattle. Relying on only native species, this project was interesting contrast to the typical and more common sedum-type green roofs. Britton was able to engineer a deep planting bed of almost 6-inches and made a great planting medium that included biochar. For plant selection, we focused on some fast-growing annuals such as Douglas meadowfoam and globe gilia, some tough lupines, and some beach dune adapted species such as sea thrift, big head sedge, and beach pea. We also added Roemer’s fescue, prairie june grass, and healthy mash-up of other grasses and wildflowers. Time will tell which species have the best long-term survival, but it’s looked great this year, and is an interesting variation on land-based native meadows.