\u00a9 Jim Holden<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\nWheat, barley, oats, rye, rice and maize, are all staples to our existence, and all types of grass<\/a>. We need to feed ourselves, and farms and farmers always rise to that challenge. Not all farms can turn over large areas of land to conservation alone, although a sympathetic approach is rising in popularity. Thankfully, schemes \u2013 which come and go \u2013 offer support to farmers if they embrace conservation. With this in mind, and the realisation that the surviving pockets of intense biodiverse grassland themselves are fragmented, what to do? Obviously, look at land capable of supplying, or that might already be supplying, natural diversity. What is this and where is it? Parks, gardens<\/a>, churchyards and other public green spaces<\/a> are an obvious place to start \u2013 and roadside verges: all 200,000 hectares of them.<\/a><\/p>\n
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\u00a9 Jim Holden <\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\nRoadsides, although mostly strips of grass, are everywhere. They are in the public view, linear and connective throughout the nation. I can hear the thinking: \u201cBut they are individually so small there\u2019s nothing of them.\u201d However, collectively they represent a simply massive land holding, and not a hectare of it used for food production. Therefore the impact on our agroeconomy is zero, the potential to increase diversity gigantic. All in the public domain. Roadside verges are connective in the public eye and representative of every local soil<\/a> type, geology and elevation. Plus, as they have sat outside of agriculture, many represent fragments of meadow or the last stronghold of a species \u2013 be that plant or insect<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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\u00a9 Jim Holden<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\nThe majority view is that short green grass is neat and tidy, a reflection of civic pride and care. \u2018Tidy\u2019 is a curse of nature. What is wrong with \u2018beautiful\u2019? Long grass blowing in the wind, the tapestry of colour, banks alive with ox-eye daisies<\/a> and knapweed or even buttercups. Even in winter, brown grass stalks covered in hoar frost or dripping with morning dew\u2026 it is a question of perception.<\/p>\n

\u2018Tidy\u2019 is a curse of nature <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
Until councils had flail mowers, strimmers and petrol mowers, we had natural roadsides. These produced an abundance of insects, because left to grow for their full annual life cycle, the grasses and other plants host myriad insects that also complete their life cycles.<\/p>\n
All we have to do is stop mowing \u2013 please. Safe junctions and sightlines must be maintained, but otherwise leave verges free to nurture nature. That is a basic first step. Opportunities exist for enhancing some verges where diversity has been lost. The introduction of good local provenance wildflower seed, for instance. Roadsides are also excellent sanctuaries for rare plants. One of our rarest plants, spiked rampion, has a stronghold on a verge. Where safer for a rare plant than the verge of the M25? I would love to see roadside verges designated reserves for wildlife.<\/p>\n
Read another extract on Scotland\u2019s machair from Iain Parkinson\u2019s book here<\/a><\/p>\n
This is an edited extract from Meadow: The Intimate Bond Between People, Place and Plants by Iain Parkinson with photographs by Jim Holden. Through 30 first-person accounts, the book explores the intimate and complex relationship between people, place and plants which, over the centuries, has shaped the character of the British Isles. It\u2019s published by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, priced \u00a325. ISBN 978-1842467473.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
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