Biodiversity

With regard to verges and wildflowers; the person dealing with allocating flailing contracts is Andrew Collins of the Highways Department at Powys County Council. The contracts for strimming and spraying are dealt with by two other different departments, but Andrew Collins will know who needs to be contacted regarding these activities.

The plant which will be most beneficial in verges of thick grass is Yellow Rattle, which parasitises grass, weakening it and allowing wildflowers to establish. Any Yellow Rattle seed being sown this autumn needs to be this years seed. The area on which it is to be sown should be either nearly bare ground (but with grass roots in it) or mown very short and scarified. Ideally the sowing area should be pricked all over with a fork and then the seed sown by November at the latest. It needs a couple of months of sub 5 degrees temperatures before it germinates in the spring. Gary Northeast