By Paul Macdonald
Warminster residents and councillors are being urged to make the town greener by doing more to help nature.
“I want us all to take a look at the Plantlife Road Verge Campaign and make suggestions about which can safely ‘bee’ seeded with wildflowers,” said Robyn Bott, a resident with a science PhD.
The Salisbury based group motto is ‘cut less, cut later’ and wants local councils to let flowers grow to encourage pollinators. “With lockdown over the flowering season this year, the verges on the A36 towards Salisbury have been peppered with the whites, yellows, reds and purples of a smorgasbord of flowers,” said Robyn.
“It has been a particularly good year for ox-eye daisies, with thousands covering some of the local fields.”
Robyn, a resident of the ‘birds estate’, lives near Warminster Common which she enjoys because it has a good balance between walking, recreation and nature.
“The edges of this popular amenity makes me think its verge with Bradley Road could become a Plantlife project, with many others around the town. By encouraging councils to reduce mowing so the wildflowers have a chance to grow and set seed, we can increase the biodiversity of our road verges as well as saving carbon emissions from mowers, and also cutting council costs.
“Cutting is still required to maximise biodiversity, but should be delayed until late summer for the greatest benefit,” she added.
Robyn and her partner have a ‘wild’ garden which attracts a wide variety of birds, insects and animals, including hedgehogs.
“I’ve converted part of our garden to support more wildlife and planted “bee bombs”, small balls of clay, compost and native wildflower seeds, to speed the re-wilding. Who doesn’t like to see wildflowers and butterflies?
“I believe that if we all try to encourage some rewilding, or ask the council to adopt the Plantlife mowing guidelines, we can improve our local environments with little effort. “Let’s ‘bug’ them to do more,” added Robyn.