Wildlife/Wild Plants, joined up thinking
Having enjoyed several recent segments on Springwatch, Gardener's World and this week's BBC doco on the Painted Lady butterfly, highlighting the value of unkempt areas and weeds to native wildlife, we've been jealously guarding our lane verge, containing cow parsley, bramble, thistle and nettle. It has to be said we felt some pressure as our neighbours have trimmed their sections of verge to dirt level, which they perceive as 'tidy'.
We live in a country area on a no-through lane, and opposite farming fields. The understory wild plants reached no more than waist height and in their situation did not pose a hazard to motorists. However, this morning, at the height of the bird fledging and butterfly pupating season, the council came along and slashed our verge right back to the ground. Smashing all the brambles, thistles and nettles to a pulp.
We live in a country area on a no-through lane, and opposite farming fields. The understory wild plants reached no more than waist height and in their situation did not pose a hazard to motorists. However, this morning, at the height of the bird fledging and butterfly pupating season, the council came along and slashed our verge right back to the ground. Smashing all the brambles, thistles and nettles to a pulp.
0
Posts
Council workman are often damned if they do and damned if they don’t ... communication and liaison is the key 👍
It's just that it only 'benefits' about four houses, and stretches no more than about 100 metres, meanwhile it was no doubt supporting butterflies and insects, we have sparrows and blackbirds feeding young, swifts and house martins, wrens, a small community of bats living in one of the houses. If you walked along the verge it was alive with small birds using it as safe cover.
I'm gutted, they've raised it to the ground this morning.
If they’re going to leave something uncut someone in authority has to tell them very clearly.
After all ... they could lose their job if they don’t do the job they’ve been told to do.
I have only lived here a few years and I can't remember if they slashed our verge last year, I don't think they did. We're on a tiny no-through side road, so it's not going to be a standard priority.
The BBC have highlighted the need to preserve wild areas of native plants, in Gardener's World, Springwatch, Countryfile and other programmes recently. And therefore it's just frustrating to witness it being destroyed to suit the 'tidy' narrative, especially as insects and farmland birds are dropping dramatically in numbers.
I just needed to share my frustration with someone this morning.
Also, it might have more value for BBC presenters to target local councils more than us individual viewers, because no doubt if I lobbied my council, the vast majority of rate payers would still view thistles and nettles as a problem that needs fixing, not a valuable habitat for wildlife.
I know people like to have nettles 'for wildlife' - but it's not like there's a national shortage of nettles. Flowering meadows are possibly scarcer and therefore more valuable. Also the little bit of active maintenance, and attractive flowers, might make your neighbours feel more positive about what you are doing.