Threat to North Yorkshire’s wildflower verges

TWO OF the biggest threats to North Yorkshire’s wild flowers are climate change and… tidy gardeners.

Over-zealous grass cutters obsessed with pristine lawns have gone into overdrive on powerful ride-on mowers, transforming verges brimming with wild flowers such as Lady’s Mantle and agrimony into boring swards of grass of little interest to wildlife.

It is just one of the growing threats facing our precious wild flowers, according to a new book, Wild Flowers On The Edge, published by York-based conservation charity PLACE (the People, Landscape and Cultural Environment education and research centre).

Writers Margaret Atherden, from York, and Nan Sykes, who lives in Thornton Dale, have been surveying the county’s roadside verges since the 1980s, colour coding them from red (high plant richness) to mauve (moorland verges with little botanical interest due to grazing).

Their fieldwork has led to the creation of 170 ‘special interest verges’ in the North York Moors, while elsewhere their surveys have encompassed the Vale of Pickering, Howardian Hills, northern Wolds and the Yorkshire Dales. They believe that roadside verges should be treated like a huge national nature reserve. At their most vibrant they support an astonishing array of plant and animal life.

North Yorkshire has 6,000 miles of roads, most fringed by verges, and common plants include the tall and aromatic mugwort, while among the rarities are bird’s-eye primrose and baneberry.

But change is coming.

A warming climate is likely to see some species – such as cloudberry, chickweed wintergreen and globeflower – die out, while more ‘southerly’ species, including white bryony, bee orchid and pepper saxifrage, continue to thrive.

Then there is the problem of over-zealous mowing.

“For many car drivers, roadside verges are just a passing blur, but for nature they are sanctuaries, a green corridor linking grassland, woods and wetlands,” said Margaret, who is chief executive of PLACE, based at York St John University.

“That makes them hugely important. The use of ride-on mowers has led some gardeners to dramatically extend their grass cutting and more than once we have seen rich verges ruined by people who probably think they are improving the environment.”

The book is the distilled knowledge of Margaret and Nan’s years-long effort to record plant life. It includes an overview of what nature lovers can find living on the verges and edges, together with culinary and medicinal uses of some plants, and how people can get involved in recording and protecting vulnerable verges.

“The importance of verges for biodiversity is being more widely understood, which is timely, because so much has already been lost,” Margaret said.

“Culprits include chemical-based farming, together with the liberal use of insecticides and the obsession with garden tidiness. We wanted to write this book to pass on our love and appreciation of wild flowers to the next generation.

“In the 1960s, American conservationist Rachel Carson warned of the prospect of a silent spring without bird song. It is now time to highlight the equalling appalling prospect of a countryside devoid of wildflowers.”

• Copies of the book are available at the reduced price of £9.95 (plus £2.75 p&p if ordering by post) from York Publishing Services, 64 Hallfield Road, Layerthorpe, York, YO31 7ZQ (yps-publishing.co.uk), tel: 01904 431213.

• The PLACE Education & Research Centre has been an independent charity since 2004. The registered office is based at York St John University in York.

It promotes research into the people, landscape and cultural environment of Yorkshire and disseminates the results for the benefit of the general public.

It also seeks to advance the education of the public in the people and the natural and cultural heritage of Yorkshire. Visit place.uk.com