I'm going to start this blog with a question. Of the three images below which would you say is the most beautiful? And which is the saddest? For me there is no question. Between looking at evening primrose and a patch of bland grass, I know which one I'd choose.
Today I was aghast as my favourite wild patch at the top of my road had been cut down. The photos above show it in chronological order, starting with the beautiful evening primrose display last summer, followed by the wild patch that regrew after they were cut down by the developers who bought the house next to it a couple of months ago (as I mentioned in a recent post I had made it my mission to harvest many of the seeds before this happened as I was afraid it would happen). Then, the final image on the right shows what the patch looks like now having been mowed down by the local council.
It may be #nomowmay, but nobody told my local council!
I'm not sure why the whole thing had to be mowed. Even if, for arguments sake, they wanted to 'tidy it up', they could have left a strip of wilderness to promote biodiversity and the movement of wildlife. I have (as you might expect) written to them asking for feedback so will see what they say.
Why should we not mow?
Plant life's no mow may campaign has gained a lot of traction and gives a good explanation of the benefits of not mowing. They say:
"We have lost nearly 97% of flower rich meadows since the 1970’s and with them gone are vital food needed by pollinators, like bees and butterflies."
This makes my head hurt. 97%!!!! That's a bloody big number.
They continue: "A healthy lawn with some long grass and wildflowers benefits wildlife, tackles pollution and can even lock away carbon below ground. With over 20 million gardens in the UK, even the smallest grassy patches add up to a significant proportion of our land which, if managed properly, can deliver enormous gains for nature, communities and the climate."
Human need for control
Why do 'weeds' offend us so? It's a curious question, especially given that we co-evolved with these plants, foraging them for 180,000 odd years before we settled into agriculture 12,000 years ago (indeed even when we started farming we did continue to forage until very recently). I have expanded on my thoughts and research on this in a previous blog on searching for the wild.
Do they remind us of the wilder parts of ourselves? Those pesky acts of defiance in the face of perfect conformity. But if we let go just a little bit, we can learn a lot from them. As Gareth Richards says in "Weeds: The beauty and uses of 50 vagabond plants",
"Weeds are nature's first responders, healing the wounds that man inflicts upon the earth. They valiantly bring back life into even the most polluted land, pushing green shoots of raw ecological power through tarmac and concrete on abandoned sites... they have an infinite capacity to heal the earth, to heal our bodies, and maybe just heal our souls too."
Good practice from TfL
Happily, it's not all bad news! TfL has announced today that they are doubling the roadside area to be managed as wildflower verges following successful trials. An additional 74,000 square metres of wildflower verges will take the total across London to 130,000 square metres, equivalent to 18 football pitches. Hopefully more local authorities will follow suit!
Hopes for the future
I live in Welwyn Garden City, a town invented as a marriage between the town and country. I really think that with the amount of green space we have, we could be a pioneering example of rewilding in practice.
The Council have said that they are planning to have more wild patches, and I have asked whether a map could be published so people can see where they are. Additionally, it would be great if people could be encouraged to engage with these spaces - and if information could be provided about their uses and historical heritage. A girl can dream.