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1 years ago

Planting verges in Reading for PollinatorsThere are various projects and campaigns underway across England to reduce the regular cutting of roadside verges and hence improve biodiversity. In particular, this is to increase flowering plants to encourage pollinators.

Whist some people would like to see longer verges, others find this “messy”. There is also an issue with litter being retained in long grass and with dog owners seeing this as an unmanaged area for use as a toilet.

In addition, there is a problem with grass mowings. If the grass is left long, then annual cutting may be done with strimmers or flail mowers, depending upon the width. Removing the cuttings is a separate job with additional expense. It is rarely done. Long grass left on roadside verges is unsightly and, more importantly, tends to shade out some of the flowering plants and encourage the “thugs” to the detriment of the wider range of plants that encourage diversity of insects.

Keeping longer roadside verges to benefit wildlife is not a simple or cost-neutral activity for the council to achieve.

This pilot project is taking a different approach. We want to find out whether we can incorporate low flowering plants within roadside verges, let the council continue with its current mowing regime leaving the short mowings in situ, keep residents happy, and still improve the habitat for pollinators. If successful, then this is something that can be rolled out across urban areas without a maintenance cost for councils and the Reading Climate Change Partnership, funding the project, will work to encourage companies in the area to sponsor further plantings.

Many low-growing flowering plants, such as clovers, bird’s foot trefoil and ladies bedstraw, will flower at very low height above ground, and will cope with fairly close mowing to flower a second or third time. For a number of pollinators, a flower at 6cm above the ground is just as good as one at a metre. Naturally, the close mown grass does not offer nesting sites and does not suit some hoverflies, butterflies and bee species that prefer to be further off the ground, but it may be a partial solution for urban areas.

We know that some plants will cope with close mowing and still flower. These are the ones being grown for the research. What we don’t know is:

Can we provide pollen and nectar through the summer with a selection of plants?

Will plant A grow at the expense of plant B and reduce the variety over time? (for example, yarrow with outgrow almost everything)

If we can’t maintain a continuum of flowering, can we provide food for insects early in the year, during the June dearth of flowers in gardens, and at the end of the summer?

Is the standard grass in the grass verge too strong to allow plug plants to establish? (we may do a follow up planting of larger swatches of flowering plants plus fine grasses to see whether there is a better system)

That’s the plan; this is what we’d like you to do.

Identify an area of roadside verge outside your house, or on the way home from work; somewhere near enough to visit weekly without stress. The plot needs to be more than three metres by 1 metre in size without a junction box, telegraph pole, large tree with root system or other things that interfere with mowing practices. It also needs to be somewhere where people do not park on the roadside verge and cut it up or shade it out.

Be willing to:

Receive a tray of plug plants to put into your patch in February/March. Maximum number to plant in a patch would be 27 (3 square metre plot), minimum 18 ( 2square metre plot) No problem in taking on several patches close together..

Plant the plugs at a rate of 9/square metre and water them in.

If we have no rain during the first month, water the plug plants

Have a look, preferably once a week, and fill in the data form showing a) Which plants are still alive? b) Which plants are in flower? c) Are you seeing insects on the flowers of different plants? (this is at the level of bees, flies, hoverflies, butterflies or moths; you do not need to identify specific species.) d) Was the grass mown by the council this week.

Tell us when you are going on holiday for more than two weeks or get fed up with the survey, so that we can get someone to continue the record

Tell us if the plot is looking spectacular and full of insects so that we come to identify them and take photos (or do this yourself)

We intend to have a couple of specific planting days where conservation volunteers would be around to help with the planting, but can’t promise help to all.

Interested? then send an email or phone call to tricia on [email protected] 0118 9268341 and I will arrange to come and see you to look at the plot and chat further.

We need to find a mixture of sunny sites, shady sites, chalky sites etc to work out what works best where, and I also need to be sure that the council, gas board, water authority etc do not have plans to dig up the street and park machinery on the verge. I haven’t got this information yet although Reading Council is on the case.

This project is funded by the Reading Climate Action Network and implemented through ECONET ... See MoreSee Less