The ground is a hard compacted two metre deep strip, mostly in hump form. My initial post was more about mankind unwittingly destroying wildlife habitat to suit a certain aesthetic. You don't really need to render this small verge inhospitable to small birds, butterflies and moths, except that people see it as ugly. Which to me is interesting in light of household names such as Monty Don and Chris Packham recently urging people to preserve rough borders and roadside verges.
I am all for supporting wildlife but if you live in the countryside, there is certainly a lot of wild areas around with thistles and nettles and similar plants. So maybe a compromise would work? Making it both pretty and good for wildlife, as a flowering meadow or something simple like shasta daisies?
The hedgerows get ragged and unkempt at this time of year. And yet Farmers aren't allowed to trim them from April to Sept 1st. The RSPB asks homeowners not to hedge over the Spring and early Summer months too, although that's just a request. I just though it jarred to see the council trashing good wildlife habitat today. They could slash it in October and again in March. The last couple of weeks I watched many small birds darting in and out of there, using it as cover while feeding their young. Sure, there's lots of rough landscape in the countryside, and yet bird numbers are dropping like a stone - as are insect numbers, their prey.
The thing to remember with wildlife gardening is that static landscapes are rarely good for wildlife. There will always be some wildlife that benefit from disruption as much as those that benefit from things being left untouched. Some of the most wildlife rich spaces I've got are ones that have been hacked about and disturbed. It's often very hard for us to see the benefits but you'd be surprised what a bit of disturbance can achieve.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
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My initial post was more about mankind unwittingly destroying wildlife habitat to suit a certain aesthetic. You don't really need to render this small verge inhospitable to small birds, butterflies and moths, except that people see it as ugly. Which to me is interesting in light of household names such as Monty Don and Chris Packham recently urging people to preserve rough borders and roadside verges.
I just though it jarred to see the council trashing good wildlife habitat today. They could slash it in October and again in March. The last couple of weeks I watched many small birds darting in and out of there, using it as cover while feeding their young.
Sure, there's lots of rough landscape in the countryside, and yet bird numbers are dropping like a stone - as are insect numbers, their prey.