The grass is growing... and so are the flowers (From Worcester News)

The grass is growing... and so are the flowers

9:00am Tuesday 16th June 2009

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By Lauren Rogers »

WILDFLOWERS are blooming in Worcester – thanks to a cost-cutting decision to stop mowing the grass.

Since Worcester City Council’s decision to stop cutting grass so frequently a number of flowers have appeared in roadside verges.

Ecologist Phil Williams discovered common spotted orchids growing on a verge in Warndon Villages, and nature wardens say swathes of spring flowers are blossoming elsewhere in the city.

Council parks officer Warwick Neale said: “On a local scale letting the grass grow from March to June has given opportunity for spring flowers to bloom.

“We have spotted ragged robin, campion, common buttercup, creeping buttercup, ox-eye daisy, orange hawkbit, bird’s foot trefoil, cow parsley and the cuckoo flower which have grown from seed left dormant in the soil.”

As previously reported in your Worcester News, the city council was forced to change the way it cut grass verges after its cleaner and green- er department’s £3.5 million budget was slashed by £830,000.

Instead of cutting the whole area, a decision was taken to only mow a strip of grassland next to the road, leaving the rest to grow long.

At the time Warndon Parish Council complained that longer grass was leading to an increase in dog mess and litter, and that some residents were unhappy.

But 56-year-old Mr Williams, of Liverpool Road, Ronkswood – who was involved in ecological surveys of the area before the Warndon Villages housing development started in the 1980s – welcomed the arrival of the orchids.

“In previous years, with the grass being regularly mown, there hasn’t been an opportunity for them to flower,” he said, adding that some orchids can take up to 15 years to flower.

Mr Neale believes the situation will be good for the whole ecosystem.

“The early nectar source provided by these wildflowers will benefit our native insects and will hopefully go some way in re-establishing the bee and butterfly population which has dwindled due to the last two years’ flooding.

“Worcester already has rich and diverse wildife with ancient semi-natural woodland, grassland, wetland and rivers, but with this new cutting regime we hope to see more slow worms, sparrows, song thrushes, shrews and sparrow hawks to name a few.

“If people do see any unusual visitors to their gardens or on the road verges, we would like to hear.”

The longest grass is due to be cut later this month, giving the spring flowers chance to seed.

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