Residents of Pease Pottage get lost in nature as they enjoy their very own wildflower meadow maze.
The Woodgate community in West Sussex has recently welcomed the addition of a stunning wildflower meadow maze on their doorstep.
In Pease Pottage, the new residential development of Woodgate is only 30 minutes from Brighton. The innovative maze forms a focal point for those at Pease Pottage, with the new wildflower landscape situated in the central village green.
Unveiled in May, residents and the wider Pease Pottage community, including teachers and pupils of Woodgate Primary School, were invited to the Woodgate development to witness a ribbon cutting ceremony.
With a core emphasis on the importance of nature, the official opening of the wildflower maze also allowed those in attendance to take part in a seed ball making activity run by Buglife, receive planting advice from Hillier Garden Centre and talk to Thakeham staff about how they could create space for nature in their own gardens, with Thakeham giving out copies of their Gardening for Wildlife Guide produced with support from Surrey Wildlife Trust.
The maze itself features at least 50 different varieties of wildflower to attract pollinators. Planted out in the shape of the Thakeham fingerprint (which symbolises Thakeham’s approach to sustainability and place-making) the innovative wildflower area also includes two information boards that provide important information as to the value and importance of wildflowers and pollinators.
As well as enhancing the open space of the village green and providing numerous wellbeing benefits, the nature-rich wildflower maze will help to bring residents and visitors alike closer to nature by helping people of all ages understand more about wildflowers and the species they support. It is hoped that the wildflower meadow maze will also inspire local residents to create a wildflower habitat within their own gardens.
Importantly, this attractive wildflower play space also has ecological significance as a B-Lines project, a nationally recognised solution that seeks to help or restore over 150,000 hectares of flower-rich habitat across the UK. This approach forms part of the National Pollinator Strategy; a ten-year plan set out by the Government to help pollinating insects survive. Thakeham was, in part, inspired by Plantlife’s annual No Mow May campaign, an initiative that is close to our heart.
The Woodgate wildflower maze project adds to Thakeham’s commitment to nature recovery, with a company-wide strategy to deliver 20% biodiversity net gain on all new developments from 2025 as well as to look beyond the biodiversity metric to a holistic set of tools that demonstrate how new communities and nature can co-exist.
If you would like more information on how our research-led wildflower products and our experienced consultants can help you reach your own wildflower ecological aspirations or BNG targets, please drop us a line (wildflower@wildflowerturf.co.uk) or phone our friendly (and ah-maze-ing) team on 01256 771 222.