The Importance of Wildflowers – Day 17 of 30 Days Wild

Day 17 of 30 Days Wild looks at the importance of wildflowers and grass verges.

I remember a year or so ago going to see Chris Packham speak and he talked about how our grass verges were being destroyed putting strain on our ecosystem. There has also been a lot of talk about the decline of wildflower meadows and the problems this causes.

According to an article on the BBC our verges support up to around 1,000 plant species and wildflowers which are an important source of food to our bees,butterflies, moths, small birds and mammals. So why have we allowed for 97% of our wildflower meadows to be eradicated since WWII?

The fact is that many of our animals are suffering due to man’s behaviour and destruction of habitats. Bees, Hedgehogs, Bats and many of our garden birds are in decline. For the past two years I have been taking part in the Big Garden Bird Watch Survey and each year the RSPB come back with alarming figures of the decline in Sparrows and Starlings. An article in the Telegraph revealed that House Sparrows have declined by 150 million birds in 30 years and the Starling by 45 million birds!

So what can you do to help?

If you have a patch of lawn in a sunny spot why not consider turning it into a wildflower meadow? You could help provide both shelter and food for the wildlife in your area and there is lots of guidance online including from the Eden Project.

I have left a strip of my lawn to grow wild and a few weeks ago bought a pack of wildflowers seeds which I have sown in one of my new planters in my back garden.

For more information about the importance of our meadows visit ‘Save Our Magnificent Meadows’