Convert village green to wildflower meadow

[DaveH]

Hello everyone

I have a meeting with my local parish council on the evening of 2/12/21 in which they wish to discuss my proposal to change the village green from mown grass to a wildflower meadow. The initial feedback I have received on this is that they are not keen. However as this space is not used for anything particularly, is near a road from which many people will see it and hopefully be inspired themselves, it seems like an ideal location.

Does anyone have any tips for the 5 minute presentation I am due to give. What would be good, what should I avoid? Would love to be able to show a picture to them of what the green could look like. Any ideas how I could do that?

For a small village this could be a great community project and could show so many others what is possible.

Thanks all
Dave

[Tracey Hamston]

Hi Dave,
Sounds a great idea. We have taken on some of our local verges with the support of our town council and it took quite a few discussions to tease out the details and commitments.
If it's your main village green, it would be worth canvassing the locals to get public opinion on your ideas and what people use it for/want from it. If you can get a good bit of support, that will stand you in good stead.
For your meeting tomorrow evening, obviously focus on the benefits including those for your parish council - e.g. NERC duties https://www.gov.uk/guidance/biodiversit ... odiversity
Benefits of community involvement too. Don't raise expectations too high. Pictures of amazing pictoral type meadows and flower-rich meadows are inspirational, but would be pretty hard to deliver. Obviously, you'll be aiming for that, but it can take a long time.

If they are reluctant, you could go for a trial period of a couple of years to see if you can get sufficient people involved. Who manages it already? There's always the reduced cutting, saving money that could go into buying seed, tools etc.

For inspirational pictures of what it could become, check out some of the meadow pictures on the forum here.
These are some of the WHY's we used
Conservation
Road verges are home to almost half of the UK’s wildflower species and can provide a huge NETWORK of corridors and refuges for nature
Health and wellbeing of the community & road user
Provide access to nature, promoting health and wellbeing
Promote civic pride
Carbon capture - Restoring poor grassland INCREASES carbon storage
Community led projects to enhance our verges for wildlife AND the people of Buckfastleigh

Sorry for the long ramble and good luck tomorrow. Tracey

[martin watts]

Oops! Hi Dave just noticed I missed the talk. I had nothing really to add to Tracy’s comprehensive guide. Except to paint a picture with words of the fun around creating the meadow which I had in my garden meadow from bench placing to mown path creating. Paths add to it also they needn’t be uniform for example as key species arise just go round them. All good fun and top off with a fun hay making day/week.
I do hope the village meeting supported this wonderful idea, look forward to hearing positive news. Cheers
Martin

[andrew]

Hi All,

I live near the National Botanic Garden of Wales, and was intruiged by this idea of how a lawn and wildflower meadow can be combined:

https://carmarthenshiremeadows.com/2021 ... diversity/

- not by having two seprate areas of mown and unmown, but by some creative mowing as shown here. Might this help persuade the doubters to give it a go? They would still be able to walk the area but would have a chance to see the meadow flowers close up.

[Steve Pollard]

I love those pictures, Andrew! Quite extreme, but very creative!

[DaveH]

Hi everyone

Well after much effort, frustration and patience the parish council have agreed with my proposal to sow wildflowers in parts of the village green and to not mow some other areas.
I know its fairly late in the day but I think we still just about have a chance to sow some wildflower seeds and thats what I'm intending to do this week. My question is where would be a goog place to source the seed and what would you recommend for a communal space, that will attract insects, look beautiful and hopefully inspire others to follow suit.
If anyone can also point me in the direction of any suppliers who would be willing to give a community group which hasn't really got any funds a discount that would be really helpful.

Thanks everyone
Dave

[Richard Lewis]

My advice is always don't sow anything until you have properly surveyed what is already there. Leave the existing vegetation to grow tall this year and in summer do a proper survey of which species and habitats you have. If it's a village green then it has likely always been short, heavily trampled and exploited grazed grassland - long grass and wildflowers aren't naturally part of a village green ecosystem.

It's important to understand that ecosystems aren't gardens - by bringing in 'wildflower' seeds you are destroying the naturalness of the habitat and potentially eroding genetic diversity of local species. Even if your site is actually suitable for a meadow (which you can assess with a full plant survey and soil testing), developing a species-rich grassland takes time. Many species will establish themselves naturally from the existing seedbank if you get the management right and this makes sure that you preserve local genetic diversity of these species.
Appropriate management often requires reducing soil nutrient status by cutting and removing biomass several times a year over 2 or more years, then establishing an ongoiong mowing regime suitable for your site eg, a hay cut in late summer then cuts in late autumn and early spring. Managing all the arisings, which will be voluminous until you have reduced soil fertility, is often the most challenging aspect - these need to be removed but even if composted, the hay crop will include grass and weed seeds which gardeners are unlikely to welcome, and it is also unfortunately likely to include dog and cat faeces, litter etc.

If after appropriate management and survey the site still appears suitable for species-rich grassland, consider introducing green hay from a suitable nearby site with similar soil chemistry, ideally including some hemi-parasites such as (depending on your soil) yellow rattle, eyebrights, red bartsia etc. This will potentially increase the diversity of your site without negatively impacting the genetic diversity of these species.

[Jane W]

Its understandable if you're feeling a bit frustrated by a parish council who seem slow to make decisions, but does this need to be done in a hurry?
It would be a terrible shame to lose or damage the flora or fauna which already exists on your site because you have a timetable or feel under pressure to produce 'results' for a sceptical council or public.
Richard's comment above make so much sense. It can take many years to understand the species which exist on a site, and how to protect them....(or at least, not cause harm so they can carry on protecting themselves!)
A year to observe what's already there has to be the minimum doesn't it.

I take my hat off to you that you have had this idea and are trying to see it through, but a wildflower meadow is going to look pretty messy for at least part of the year.

[DaveH]

Thanks to everyone for their help and advice earlier in the spring when permission to start this was granted by the Parish Council.
It was agreed that to start off with areas at both ends would be seeded and an area in the centre around a path that many yake to the bus stop would be allowed to grow longer. I spoke with British Wildflower Seeds and using advice from them chose an 80:20 mix of grasses:flowers.
The results, after less than 3 months, are attached and after initial very negative comments from some, the last 2/3 weeks have only resulted in positive comments, many of them. We've even had a local estate agent posting a video of them on their social media page!
Thanks once again and this only the start.

[Amy]

It is really great to have an update from the original poster. When reading a topic, I always wonder what is decided in the end.
Thank you, Dave, and Please let us have more photos of the meadow's progress over the next few years.