Where a bowling green pristine lawn was once seen as a must for suburban gardens, in these times of climate change and environmental warnings, more natural grassy areas are growing in popularity.
Over the years we have turned both our front and back gardens over to wildflowers, so apart from cutting a few paths, the mower has a rest between now and September. At its peak it is full of colour, from tall poppies, knapweeds and oxeye daisies to low-growing sainfoin, speedwells, kidney vetch and clovers.
It is also alive with insects, including a wide range of butterflies such as the declining small blue, cinnabar moths, crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, bees and, as a result, bats, hedgehogs and lots of garden birds which pay their way by keeping pest numbers down.…
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Amateur Gardening (Digital) - 1 Issue, 27-Apr-2024