In June, TECo member Jen James surveyed an area at the end of Brook Road to investigate the effects of No Mow May. Read on to find out more about the positive results!
On a Saturday morning in June TECO surveyed an unmown area at the end of Brook Road, which had been left to grow as part of ‘No Mow May’. We were looking to see what wildflowers were growing in the absence of cutting, and we were not disappointed! In total we identified 30 different species of wildflower and 4 different types of grasses.
The area we surveyed is on its second year of being left for ‘No Mow May’ and was comprised of an unmown centre, and a much smaller area that had been cut just once earlier in the year. We could see that the fact that it is in its second year has allowed a real diversity of species to thrive, and because there were areas of varying heights, some of the smaller and lower growing flowers could shine, whereas the taller species had been able to take off in the completely unmown area. Managing it in this way, not only means more diversity, but that flowering can be staggered and therefor last longer. This of course must be balanced with allowing the flowers to go to seed and continue the next generation.
We are looking forward to completing more surveys like this so that we can demonstrate how these small areas can be biodiverse oasis’s both in terms of plant life and the lives that these wildflowers support.
Trowbridge Environmental Community 