New Years Resolution
spooky
carraigway verges to cheer then up a bit!
Jenny
NeilTonks
In article <76l1jp$26v$1...@reader2.wxs.nl>, "spooky"
<spooky21sp...@wxs.nl> writes:
>To sort out my seed packets and sprinkle the leftovers into various dual
>carraigway verges to cheer then up a bit!
>
Sorry to be a spoilsport but this is not a good idea!
Road verges are fast turning into the last stronghold of many native
wildflowers, which have been driven out of their usual habitats by agriculture.
They thrive on the verges simply because they are left alone there and can
find a natuiral balance of species. Introducing new and non-native species to
the verges could upset this balance and put the native plants at risk.
Neil Tonks
(Peak District website: http://members.aol.com/pdwalks)
Alan Gould
<neil...@aol.com> writes
Unfortunately many motorway and roadside verges are not left alone. In
some cases traffic requirements justify trimming them, but a whole lot
of them are regularly shorn for tidiness sake. Hopefully either
economics or care for nature will stop this unnecessary practice.
--
Alan and Joan Gould, North Lincs.
<al...@agolincs.demon.co.uk>
Geoff
scrub is kept at bay but thay have to be cut at the right time when
the wild flowers have seeded and the grass cuttings have to be
removed otherwise they smother everything. In this area a
neighbouring authority does just this and you get cowslips and lots of
other things. When you go into my county...naff all !!
Geoff
Alan Gould
<geoffhandley@*hotmail.com> writes
>The best way of preserving vergeside vegetation is to cut them so the
>scrub is kept at bay but thay have to be cut at the right time when
>the wild flowers have seeded and the grass cuttings have to be
>removed otherwise they smother everything. In this area a
>neighbouring authority does just this and you get cowslips and lots of
>other things. When you go into my county...naff all !!
Yes, a naturalising area needs a certain amount of maintenance to give
the smaller and slower growing wildflowers a chance.
The trouble is that when local authorities decide that verges need
trimming, they usually put the job out to contract and the contractors
are not always sensitive to the needs of the flora they are trimming.
I managed to convince our local highways department not to have roadside
hedges flailed at bird-nesting time, but it would be a full time job
trying to monitor everything they do.
Duncan Russell
needlessly many thousands of miles of roadsides every year. However there
is always an exception. Somebody, I know not who, convinced the Berkshire
council that the roadside verges are a valuable natural resource. Now
several large stretches are properly managed as nature reserves, If only we
could all write to our own local councils maybe some more would jump on the
band wagon of trying to appear to be environmentally friendly. Only trouble
round here I think Oxon is practically bankrupt before the new financial
year begins so a bit of a forlorn hope.
Duncan
Alan Gould wrote in message ...
Kay
>
>>Road verges are fast turning into the last stronghold of many native
>>wildflowers, which have been driven out of their usual habitats by agriculture.
>> They thrive on the verges simply because they are left alone there and can
>>find a natuiral balance of species. Introducing new and non-native species to
>>the verges could upset this balance and put the native plants at risk.
>
>some cases traffic requirements justify trimming them, but a whole lot
>of them are regularly shorn for tidiness sake. Hopefully either
>economics or care for nature will stop this unnecessary practice.
>
the Highways Agency is very conscious of environmental requirements of
its verges. And remember that grassland is an early stage in ecological
succession - unless trimmed, whether by sheep, rabbits or mower, it will
turn to scrub and eventually to woodland.
--
Kay
k...@scarboro.demon.co.uk
cormaic
<al...@agolincs.demon.co.uk> enriched all our lives with these words:
8<---S-N-I-P--->8
>The trouble is that when local authorities decide that verges need
>trimming, they usually put the job out to contract and the contractors
>are not always sensitive to the needs of the flora they are trimming.
Neither would you, if you saw the rates they were offering!
British Waterways, the canal owners, slashed their mowing rates by
almost 50% a couple of years ago, and the money now on offer would
hardly pay for fuel, let alone wages. The contractor is engaged simply
to mow, not to be an environmental watchdog or guardian of the verges.
I have worked on a number of large-ish schemes where
significant areas, ie more than a couple of acres, were to be seeded
on completion of external landscaping works. The specifier can
stipulate exactly what mix of grass and wild-flower seeds they desire.
If we want to promote highway verges and grasslands as havens for our
natural flora, then we need to get through to the specifiers, not the
poor sod pushing the mower along - they are paid to mow, not to think
- thinking's for management. ;~)
--
cormaic - http://www.tmac.clara.net/cormaic/garden/garden.htm
Culcheth - paving pages at http://www.tmac.clara.net/paving2.htm
Cheshire Last Updated on 1st January 1999
(allegedly)
cormaic CAN BE FOUND AT tmac.clara.co.uk
Alan Gould
ODAYTHANKStmac.clara.net> writes
>'Twas Mon, 4 Jan 1999 11:30:23 +0000, when Alan Gould
><al...@agolincs.demon.co.uk> enriched all our lives with these words:
>
>8<---S-N-I-P--->8
>
>>The trouble is that when local authorities decide that verges need
>>trimming, they usually put the job out to contract and the contractors
>>are not always sensitive to the needs of the flora they are trimming.
>
> Neither would you, if you saw the rates they were offering!
>British Waterways, the canal owners, slashed their mowing rates by
>almost 50% a couple of years ago, and the money now on offer would
>hardly pay for fuel, let alone wages. The contractor is engaged simply
>to mow, not to be an environmental watchdog or guardian of the verges.
>
> I have worked on a number of large-ish schemes where
>significant areas, ie more than a couple of acres, were to be seeded
>on completion of external landscaping works. The specifier can
>stipulate exactly what mix of grass and wild-flower seeds they desire.
>If we want to promote highway verges and grasslands as havens for our
>natural flora, then we need to get through to the specifiers, not the
>poor sod pushing the mower along - they are paid to mow, not to think
>- thinking's for management. ;~)
>
rates, the job is put out to tender and the lowest tender gets the job.
The specifiers of work on roadside verges are limited to a budget set
not only by the area Highway Authority, but by Westminster as part of
Local Authority financing. In the end it is paid for by the public (us)
through various taxes. We don't get what we don't pay for, and we often
don't get what we do pay for.
Richard Beard
"right time" for the wild flowers & plants - certainly not in Ealing anyhow,
we're lucky if they even turn up!
Richard
Geoff wrote in message <368fa867...@news.prestel.co.uk>...
>The best way of preserving vergeside vegetation is to cut them so the
>scrub is kept at bay but thay have to be cut at the right time when
>the wild flowers have seeded and the grass cuttings have to be
>removed otherwise they smother everything. In this area a
>neighbouring authority does just this and you get cowslips and lots of
>other things. When you go into my county...naff all !!
>Geoff
>
>On Sun, 3 Jan 1999 12:21:32 +0000, Alan Gould
><al...@agolincs.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>Unfortunately many motorway and roadside verges are not left alone. In
>>some cases traffic requirements justify trimming them, but a whole lot
>>of them are regularly shorn for tidiness sake. Hopefully either
>>economics or care for nature will stop this unnecessary practice.
>>
Susan Young
Alan Gould wrote in message ...
>Unfortunately many motorway and roadside verges are not left alone. In
>some cases traffic requirements justify trimming them, but a whole lot
>of them are regularly shorn for tidiness sake.
True for non-rural areas, but in rural areas verges tend to be cut by
farmers. The NFU encourages cutting to be carried out after seeding has
taken place. Certainly verge (and hedge) cutting round here (South Devon)
tends to take place over winter.
Sue Y