Britain’s wildflowers have been given a helping hand after new guidelines were approved to limit how often roadside grass verges will be cut.
Wildflowers thrive by the roadside and verges are among the last remaining refuges for the beautiful plants which have been eradicated from large parts of the UK.
Currently they are cut down four times a year, which doesn’t give them adequate time to mature and release their seeds.
The new rules will limit this to just two trims every 12 months, allowing wildflowers to complete their life-cycle and boosting their chances of flourishing once again.
Wildflowers thrive by the roadside and are one of the last remaining refuges for the beautiful plants which have been eradicated form large parts of the UK. Currently they are cut down four times a year, which doesn’t give them adequate time to mature and release their seeds (stock)
The grassy patches line 313,500 miles of UK rural roads, A-roads and motorways are an increasingly important source of meadow habitat, the wildlife charity Plantlife said.
Grassy strips alongside roads have become vital following the decimation of 97 pr cent of all British wildflowers in the past century.
Most of the land has been re-purposed to grow crops, leaving the road’s margins as the last place for wildflowers to take root.
More than 700 species of wild flowers, including 29 of the 52 species of wild orchid found in this country, are found on verges.
By cutting them just twice a year, it will allow flowers to be pollinated and set seed rather than being cut down in their prime.
The step will be a boon to many rare insects too which rely on the flowers for food, will save councils money and provide a ‘flash of nature’ to motorists and pedestrians, according to nature charity Plantlife.
Dr Trevor Dines, the director of Plantlife said it could offer a much greater chance for people to rare flowers such as wood calamint and fen ragwort that these days are only found on roadsides.
It could also mean people see more familiar flowers including cowslips, oxeye daisies, and even orchids on their journeys – including the rare lizard orchid.
‘It’s heartening to see road verges increasingly recognised as wildlife havens, rather than the inconsequential ‘edgelands’ that flash by in the car wing mirror as we speed ahead with our busy lives,’ he said.
The charity has produced the guidance in collaboration with Natural England, Highways England, Transport Scotland and the Welsh Government, industry bodies Skanska and Kier, and Butterfly Conservation and The Wildlife Trusts.
Grassy verges cover an area equal to all the remaining lowland grassland which is still rich in wildflowers, so a new approach could double the opportunities for wild flowers and wildlife, Dr Dines added.
‘Widespread adoption of this best practice management by councils and their contractors could transform our road verge network, signalling an end to hard times on the soft estate,’ he said.
Dr Dines said that over time wildflowers had been hit by the loss of meadows on one side of the hedgerow in farmers’ fields.
‘At the same time on the other side of the hedgerow on verges we’ve been slowly eradicating wildflowers, but cutting them so early and more often each year. We’ve eradicated flowers on both side of hedge.’
The new rules will limit grass verges to just two trims every 12 months, allowing them to complete their life-cycle and boosting their chances of flourishing once again (stock)
But where once people wanted to see neat and tidy verges, there was now a greater appetite for wild flowers, and ‘messier’ grass strips that provide better cover for plants and the wildlife that feeds on them, he said.
This shift in public attitudes is reflected in Plantlife’s petition calling for councils to manage verges for wildflowers which has been signed by 82,000 people.
And it is backed up by research from the AA Charitable Trust which has revealed that 84 per cent of 18,000 drivers quizzed would like to see more verges become roadside meadows as long as it does not impede road visibility.
Edmund King, director of the AA Charitable Trust, said verges could be a haven for native plants and wildlife, and added: ‘At times driving can be boring leading to a lack of concentration, so if a splash of colour and a whiff of scent alerts the senses, it must also be a good thing for road safety.’
The guidelines say cutting the verges twice a year, and doing so later into the autumn helps suppress coarse grasses and encourages wildflowers, which are able to grow, produce beautiful displays and set seed before being cut.
They also encourage taking away the cuttings to remove excess nutrients that would boost grass at the expense of flowers, pointing to the opportunities for using the material for biomass to produce energy.
And there is advice on restoring verges, managing scrub, and establishing flower-rich grasslands along new roads.
