BilliGreen: Village Green planting scheme

You don’t need wilderness to attract wildlife

A new planting scheme on the Village Green

Billingshurst Village Green, on the High Street, has a new look. It has been replanted as a ‘woodland garden’ with a range of plants chosen to attract wildlife, clustered around a root from an old oak tree.

Volunteers from BilliGreen worked alongside local woodsman Clive Cobie and Billingshurst Parish Council to devise the new scheme with funding from Horsham District Council (supported by the European Regional Development Fund and HM Government, through the Welcome Back Fund).

Among the plants are hawthorn. Its fragrant white flowers in the spring and red berries in the autumn should provide a more interesting display for local residents and visitors than the previous overgrown shrubs. For wildlife, nectar and pollen in the blossom provide food for insects such as bees. Birds, like song thrushes, eat the berries and like to build their nests in the safe space provided by the tree.

Stop by and see if you can spot dog violet which flowers from now until June. They are an important food source for rare butterflies in the fritillary family.

Other flowers include wild daffodils and bluebells whose deep flower heads should attract long-tongued varieties of bumblebees. Primroses, cow parsley and dandelion have flower shapes which are ideal for smaller bees and wasps, hoverflies, and all sorts of tiny beetles. The planting scheme also includes ferns, one of the oldest types of plant, which developed millions of years ago. They grow in poor soil; even on logs and rocks. The garden should provide a home for ‘shredders’ – beetles, earwigs and woodlice – who break down dead plants, playing their part in the cycle of life.

Keep an eye out to see how the garden develops over the year. Mela Davidson

Photo: Billingshurst Village Green undergoes a transformation!