News

With outdoor space being a premium and in some cases a luxury, it is no surprise that we feel compelled to pack extra value from every square metre of land by erecting sheds for extra storage, laying patios for outdoor dining and block paving our driveways, and in many cases at the expense of the planting.

With garden centres, DIY chains and supermarkets pushing hard landscaping, because quite simply, that’s where the money is, it is easy to overlook the soft landscaping option. The thought of having mixed borders in the front garden, showing an array of colour, gently spilling onto the path or driveway is very alluring to most people, but it also spells high maintenance, which doesn’t necessarily fit in with everyone’s busy lifestyle.

What is interesting is that hard surfaces can have a surprising impact on the wider environment. Predominantly, it is the role hard surfaces play in causing environmental problems that are the concern, with…

“Operation Pollinator is an international 5 year biodiversity program to boost the number of pollinating insects on commercial farms, by creating specific habitats, tailored to local conditions and native insects.”
Please follow this link to visit their website: Operation Pollinator

As I am sure you are aware pollinating insects are crucial for the success of many natural habitats. We also rely on pollinating insects for the production of many food crops.
In fact, as much as 80% of European crop types are directly dependent upon insects for their pollination. The link below is a two page pdf which provides more information on
the project.

http://www.operationpollinator.com/resources/documents/Operation%20pollinator%204pger_25%2006%2009.pdf
Come and see the show…our managing director James is exhibiting at the Creating Landscapes show, which is taking place at Capel Manor College, Enfield on the 25th  & 26th October 2011. James will be presenting a seminar at 12pm, Tuesday 25th entitled – “Establishing wildflower meadows – turf or seed?”

We are just gearing up to do a spot of filming at our farm, which we will be available through our news letter as well as on our website. We are interested to see how much activity can be found in a wildflower meadow, especially this late in the season. We couldn’t help but notice that there is still a lot of activity, especially with regard to the bees.

We were also taking photographs of any invertebrate life we could find on one of our Wildflower beds, and here are a few images of what we found so far…

What is biodiversity? – biodiversity describes the variety of life on Earth. It includes the wide variety of ecosystems and living organisms from all sources including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and their genes.

Why should we be concerned with biodiversity? – biodiversity is our key resource and support system. It is critical for the functioning of ecosystems which supply us with products and services, such as oxygen, food, fresh water, fertile soil, medicines, stable climate and recreation, sustaining human existence and our quality of life. Maintaining and enhancing biodiversity is a key challenge to sustainable development.
As part of a dissertation for a Garden Design Degree a Sparsholt student designed a simple survey, measuring attitudes towards biodiversity and wildflower meadows in general. It was concluded, that although documentation and general awareness of wildflower meadows and their importance for supporting biodiversity, would seem to be more common knowledge these days, the study did reveal that most people although were aware of the term, did not appreciate the importance they played on human society.
It is estimated that there are approximately 1 million ha of gardens within…

According to Natural England, in the last sixty years England has lost most of its species-rich semi-natural grassland.  Increasing the numbers and species of native wild flowers can go some way to restoring this valuable habitat.
Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor) is a hemi-parasitic plant – a plant that attaches itself to the roots of a host but also photosynthesizes.  This particular species attaches itself to the roots of various course grasses, thereby acting as a control mechanism which in turn leaves space for the introduction and spread of wild flowers.  However, getting this annual to perform to its best potential can be a little tricky.
In meadows where sheep and cattle roam and graze freely, this hemi-parasitic plant flourishes year on year bringing about a balance between course, invasive grasses and wildflowers. Its survival i.e. successful germination, appears to depend on one or more certain criteria:

Whilst it is easy to see how cutting would help to spread the seeds around the meadow, grazing may not be practical especially in a garden or urban setting.  So what benefit does grazing have and how can the…

The days are getting shorter and the nights are definitely cooler, so you might be forgiven for believing that those last flowers in your wild flower meadow or on your green roof i.e. Clover, Vetch, a few late Red Campion’s, Wild Carrot and Yarrow, Common Knapweed and Scabious,  are past their glory and that now everything is looking pretty tatty you could go ahead and cut it all down ready for the winter.  Please Don’t!!  Consider this:

Although summer is nearing its end, new Bumblebee Queens need to drink lots of nectar to build up body fat in order to survive the winter.  Bumblebee species such as the Buff-tailed,  Red-tailed and White-tailed are easy to identify and will all be fattening up now.  Those last few flowers will still be important to their survival.
Butterflies are now few and far between, with just a few species still in evidence compared with a few weeks ago.  Some hibernate through the winter and therefore still need to top up on nectar to get them through the winter.  Whilst  Painted Lady and Clouded Yellow found feeding on Common Knapweed, Musk Mallow and Vipers Bugloss, need the…

A few months ago we reported the leap to fame of Darren Rudge Landscape & Garden Design when they won a Gold Medal and Best in Show for their show garden “Naturally Playful” at BBC Gardeners World Live Show this year.
Well clearly Darren is still very happy with the result he achieved and especially so with the wildflower turf we supplied for his garden, as he sent us a message to say that he wants to discuss his design for next years show.  Darren said, “Many thanks for a truly superb product”. Wow, thanks Darren we’re really pleased you love our product, and look forward to receiving your call!
Here are a few photo’s to remind you of just how beautiful his design was and what a fabulous garden this would be for children to play in:

The British summer supplies us with numerous  RHS flower shows, which in turn make us all wish our gardens could look so glorious. We’ve found that quite a number of designers like to use our wildflower turf with its rich selection of native wildflowers and grasses, as part of their show garden designs.
Tatton Park was the venue for the latest RHS Flower Show and designer Carolyn Hardern successfully demonstrated how a mix of organic structure and modern sculpture can sit amongst native wildflowers as aesthetically as more formal designs.
Her design won her a Silver Medal and we think it was well-earned.  See for yourself:

What could the new JCB Academy, a school for young engineers in Staffordshire, possibly have in common with biodiversity? Why, a wild flower meadow of course.  Not many moons ago,  JCB commissioned East Midlands Landscaping to landscape the area around their new academy.  The results are not quite what you would expect of such an establishment.  No pristine lawns here, but rather bio-diverse wildflower turf to complement the environmentally friendly yet technologically advanced electricity source located at the mill-race below the entrance to the building.
Strangely the contrast between nature and advanced engineering really works.  Photographs are a definite plus in order to appreciate the aesthetic appeal to this solution, so here you go:

Naturally occurring Wild Flower Meadows are one of the most beautiful sights in the countryside although sadly they don’t occur as often as they used to.  Travelling through the Highlands of Scotland, Yorkshire or Wiltshire for example will reward the traveller with fields full of native wildflowers and grasses, but with farming mostly practiced on a large-scale these are restricted to the smaller, less accessible fields.
We hear so much today about biodiversity, bee roads and the conservation of various species that are in decline due to the loss of so many naturally occurring wildflower meadows that it is heartening to read that some garden designers are incorporating wild flower areas in their designs.
Earlier this year Oxford Garden Partners formed by Kate Jury and Emi Itoh, incorporated a wildflower meadow in their design for Leys Children’s Centre using our WildFlower Turf to create the instant desired effect.
The subsequent wildflower meadow can now attract such unusual species of Butterfly as the Marbled White, which particularly loves Red Fescue and Sheep’s Fescue and of course the amazing Peacock Butterfly which loves Yarrow, Marjoram and Betony to name a few of…