F E AT U R E By Theo Plowman
Life on the verge
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Verge management can contribute to cutting costs, boost biodiversity and deliver a myriad of other public benefits
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ince the Second World War 97%1 of the UK’s wildflower rich meadowland has been wiped out by urban development and modern agricultural methods. With it, there has been a devastating decline in biodiversity. We might think the main solution would be mass restoration of these meadows, cutting huge swathes through the countryside but an oft forgotten landscape may be key to reversing this drastic decline. There are nearly 313,5002 miles of rural road verges across the country, these strips of greenery are, for the 23 million people commuting to work
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by road every day, often their only daily contact with nature. Sadly, these spaces are usually a uniform and bland monoculture of grass with scant traces of life. Yet this could all be changing with increased attention, action and thought going into revitalising our road verges. New guidelines3 released this year by Plantlife highlight how taking simple actions could allow Britain’s verges to flourish with more than 400bn wildflowers. The guidance stipulates a different number of cuts depending on the type of grass but has several key principles. Cutting is to happen after July and vitally the removal of all grass cuttings to lower soil fertility
and allow a more diverse range of wildflowers to flourish. In essence the soil at verges is too fertile and through simple, cost effective measures this can be reversed. Currently, much of the UK’s grass road verges are either cut too often and at the wrong time of year, or abandoned to poor quality scrub. Currently grass cuttings are left creating a thick layer which inhibits growth of anything other than hardy grasses, the soil nutrient levels also rocket, creating a vicious cycle of rapidly growing grass. Authorities managing verges face a costly, losing battle to try and stem the cycle.
There are nearly 313,500 miles of rural road verges used by 23 million commuters each day.
