By Lucy Perry, Gardener
As we enter summer the school grounds and gardens are looking beautiful, and the wildflowers are really starting to settle into their stride. Over the last four years we have created a total of ten wildflower meadows and banks around the school, providing enriching habitats for butterflies, moths, bees and all manner of critters and creatures. Although we use the term wild areas, a lot of work goes into turning these utilitarian grasslands into rich environments, both by the gardens team and by nature itself.
To create these habitats we used two quite different techniques; the first was to remove the top layer of nutrient rich soil and sow grass and flower seed directly onto the subsoil layer. This helps to keep the number of aggressive weeds and grass to a minimum for a couple of years and lets wild plants get established. The second method is to sow a plant called Rhinanthus minor, commonly known as Yellow-rattle, directly onto the existing grass.
Yellow-rattle is the magic dust that helps to create a wildflower meadow out of any grass lawn or bank. The plant is semi-parasitic and feeds off the nutrients in the roots of grass. The effect of this is to create a small opening on the surface of the soil to allow other plant seeds to germinate, and to weaken the vigorous grass allowing the wildflowers and other varieties of wild grasses to compete and eventually thrive.
These wonderful little plants get their name from the colour of the flowers that emerge around the end of May, giving a beautiful yellow flush to the meadows, and to the sound of their small flat seeds shaking around in the drying flower heads. Yellow-rattle only lives for a year, so it is vital we maintain their existence to keep the meadows as rich and varied as possible. For this reason I can be seen crouching down among the plants throughout the summer collecting the seeds in paper bags. These are then stored for a brief time and then sow out on freshly raked grass areas in late autumn. The seeds then need the cold of winter to help them germinate and the process begins all over again the following spring.
Along with the wonder that is Yellow-rattle we have helped our wildflower areas along with a yearly sowing of annual and perennial wildflower and grass seed and with regular clearing of vigorous weeds such as ragwort and large thistles. Each year the meadows must be cut down in late autumn, with all cuttings removed to ensure that the ground remains low in nutrients and the perfect environment for wildflowers to thrive.
It has been a challenge and a learning curve to create and maintain these beautiful and ecologically critical areas, but the excitement I feel every spring to see different flowers emerge is worth all the hard work.
