Eco-Hub Aber put No Mow May to the test – here’s what happened next
Ready to Dig! Sam and Kate Rolt – Eco Hub Aber, Joey Hughes – Orchard Daughters / Merchyd y Berllan
No Mow May – letting plants grow!
Eco Hub Aber were involved in a No Mow May pollinator garden for Gerddi Ffynnon Sheltered Accommodation in May 2023 on an area of grassy lawn.
Traditional green lawn grasses might look neat and tidy but they do not provide a habitat for our winged friends like butterflies, moths, bees and insects. These creatures, including ants, beetles and grasshoppers are needed to create healthy ecosystem and help pollinate plants and flowers. Lawn grass is very sturdy and strong, good for ground cover but it tends to smother the wildflowers that pollinators need to survive. Unlike wildflowers, which thrive in poor-quality soil, grass lawn also needs constant attention, regular mowing, pesticides and lots of water.
Gerddi’r Ffynnon Before the Meadow
Gerddi’r Ffynnon is a three-storey block of thirty flats, owned and managed by Wales and West Housing (WWH). It has a communal garden, mostly of steep sloping ground with flatter areas around the building. Before the meadow the garden was a traditional grass lawn, kept short and neat, not an ideal habitat for bugs and bees.
BEFORE – Traditional Lawn at Gerddi Ffynnon Sheltered Accommodation
Transforming The Lawn
Working with Ceredigion Local Nature Partnership, Ceredigion County Council / Cyngor Sir Ceredigion, Wales and West Housing Group and Welsh Government Local Places for Nature Project, Eco Hub Aber transformed the lawn into a thriving wildflower meadow.
Kate Rolt, Eco-Hub’s green-fingered gardener said, ‘We used older fruit trees which would bear fruit more quickly for people to pick. The residents went for pear and apple trees as well as creating a ‘Jam Corner,’ an area of damson, cherry and crab-apple trees, which when fully grown will provide fruit for making delicious home-made jams!’
Kate chose trees that already had branches and were balanced on rootstocks strong enough to anchor while producing manageable-sized trees. The trees that made the grade included three varieties of apple: ‘Rosette, Surprise and ‘Tickled Pink.’ She also planted a mixture of grass seed, wildflowers and bulbs.
She said: ‘We sowed wild grass seed collected from The National Botanic Garden of Wales and a selection of Celtic wildflower plugs planted from seed. These include Yellow Rattle, Common Sorrel, Corn Marigold, Perforated St John’s Wort, Red Campion, Yarrow and many more. We chose a mix of perennials and annuals selected to support Welsh pollinators and wildlife.’
AFTER – Wildflowers Growing in Gerddi Ffynnon Sheltered Accommodation
Top 7 Tips for Beginners
Here are Kate’s handy tips for any beginners thinking about trying No Mow May:
1. First remove grasses back to the less fertile sub-soil. You can use a lawn scarifier to do this.
2. Resist the urge to add manure or compost. This will encourage grass to grow and will swamp the wildflowers. Yellow Rattle seed can be used instead to supress grass. It feeds from the nutrients found in their roots.
3. Sow the wildflower seeds in autumn. This allows them to settle over winter and reduces the chances of them drying out in our hotter spring weather.
4. To give trees a good start you can protect the root ball with fungal mycorrhiza, this creates a beneficial relationship between tree roots and fungi where they share water, nutrients and sugars.
5. To make the best of the wildflower area use wildflower plugs. Annual wildflowers will bloom the first year they are sown but will not survive or compete in areas of lush grass or weeds.
6. Plant bright spring bulbs to give colour early in the season.
7. Protect your seeds from birds with a scarecrow!
A Thriving Wildflower Meadow
What was once an area of plain grass, where butterflies had nowhere to land and bees had nowhere to collect their nectar is now a thriving wild meadow, self-seeding itself into the future.
One neighbour said: ‘I’ve really enjoyed seeing the flowers come out – will you come and do the same to our lawn!’
If you want to take part in No Mow May there’s still time!
Whether you have potted plants or a grassy garden, want to use green space at work or at home, visit Plantlife’s Website for ideas to sign up and support your own little patch of wild nature!