News

Maintenance of wildflower meadows is an important consideration. In this month’s timely blog, we’re sharing some of our best-practice insights with you.

Wildflower meadows require minimal maintenance – this is one of their many benefits. However, every autumn your meadow will require some attention.

With the months of September and October becoming increasingly milder, we are finding that many are choosing to push their wildflower maintenance back to mid-October or even later. However, do be aware that our grass free Native Enriched turf does require a cut by late September. This will allow the area to grow back before the weather turns colder and gives a reasonable amount of coverage over the course of the winter months.

As part of our extensive Research & Development undertaking, we focus on different cutting and removal regimes for wildflower areas to better understand the impact on growth, health and species diversity. Over time, this has allowed us to continue to update our best-practice advice on the best techniques for different sites and circumstances.

No two meadows will grow in the same way or even at the same rate, with the mix of flowers and grasses that flourish varying year-on-year. With temperatures creeping above the seasonal average and…

As the School summer holidays are now in full swing we have another very welcome & timely guest blog from Max Mitchell who is a freelance writer.

Man has been in close contact with wildlife for centuries. The issue is that, with the advent of technology, society’s life and values have changed dramatically. However, people have recently become more concerned about environmental issues and the well-being of wildlife. Why is it vital to start educating children about environmental conservation at a young age?

Nature has always been with humans throughout their lives. As a rule, conscious assimilation and mastering of ecological culture begin in childhood, concurrently with the assimilation of general cultural provisions. The school is the first link in the formation of ecological culture, ecological thinking, and ecological knowledge.

The problem is that according to research, children’s knowledge of some common wildlife species is quite poor these days. That is why it is critical to consider the most effective solutions.

Teaching children about wildlife should be active, interesting, rational, and as close to life as possible….

With increasing emphasis on mitigating biodiversity loss, there is a real need for industries to cooperate and collaborate.

A term that has risen to prominence during the last decade, ‘biodiversity’ describes the variety and variability of life on Earth.

A measure of variation at the genetic, species, and ecosystem level, it is often used to describe all of the species in one region or ecosystem.

Biodiversity provides us with food directly and via pollination, supports intrinsic medical advancements and has been shown to positively impact on mental well-being. Biodiversity ultimately allows us all to live healthy and happy lives; however, climate change, pollution and overdevelopment are among the threats that have contributed to declining biodiversity in recent years.

While the scale of biodiversity loss and our ability to reverse these losses may seem overwhelming, it is important to recognise that multiple small, large and local actions incrementally add up.  While there is no ‘quick-fix’ to biodiversity loss reversal, the responsibility of getting it right for the long term must be at the top of the agenda.

The UK is leading important global initiatives including the development of Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank

With two in five plant species…

With this current heat wave we are experiencing this guest blog from is Adrian Johansen is most timely.  Adrian is a freelance writer who specializes in sustainability and climate change issues and can be found on Twitter

Climate change is arguably the biggest influence on garden design today. At the 2022 Chelsea Flower Show, Lulu Urquhart and Adam Hunt’s “A Rewilding Britain Landscape” and Sarah Eberle’s sustainability-focused “Building the Future” gardens both took home “best in show” designations. These first-time designers showcased a need in the gardening community for environmental awareness.

Everyday gardeners are also getting in on the sustainability act. Inspired by Earth Day, schools and homes across the nation are investing in our planet by making simple changes like installing wildflower turf and using peat-free compost.

Making sustainable changes is important if you’re green-thumbed and love to get out in the garden for some planting, pruning, and watering. Climate change will eventually impact the way you garden, as the usually moderate British climate is due to become warmer by 1 to 6 degrees Celsius with less…

Situated in the green and abundant countryside of Somerset, The Newt is a rare treasure. This magnificent hotel and country estate boasts incredible woodland and gardens with plantings influenced by thousands of years of horticultural history.

Having previously supplied The Newt in 2021 with over 1,000m² of our Wildflower Turf Landscape 34 turf, and 1,400m² of our Wildflower Turf Native Enriched product, we recently paid a visit to this intriguing and ever-evolving destination.

The Newt seamlessly combines a 5-star hotel, restaurants, spa and a cyder (cider) cellar, which produces Somerset’s favourite tipple using state-of-the-art equipment. But it is the extensive grounds that really capture the imagination and delight the senses.

The name of the Estate comes from the population of newts that live in the grounds. The ethos of the Newt is said to stem from “a deep respect for the land, its animals, and its environment, as well as a passion for horticulture and agriculture”, and this…

As we all look settle back to work after a glorious Jubilee weekend, we have another very welcome guest blog, this time from Max Mitchell who is a freelance writer.

Many factors, including technology, now influence people’s interest in learning about wildlife. The development of an appreciation for nature is rather critical for the preservation of the environment and its floral biodiversity. There is no time to wait, as many plant species are already classified as endangered. As a result, wildlife education should be prioritised as soon as possible to solve the problem.

According to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) biodiversity and climate change report, economic development and human activity have had an impact not only on marine resources but also on land resources. This includes not only forests and soils but also wildflowers.

With globalisation accelerating, irresponsible human behavior has already reduced the number of wild plants. As a result, approximately 800 plant species are now considered endangered. Many factors contribute to the decline in…

Things have been busy at Forge Farm, our newest production site.

It’s been all hands on deck at our new production site, Forge Farm, and the team in Shropshire have been busily preparing for the summer months that lie ahead.

Wildflower Turf Ltd took occupancy of Forge Farm in October 2021, with the daunting challenge of reinventing the former dairy farm and transforming it into a new home for our Wildflower Turf® and Meadowscape Pro™ products.

We spent the tail end of last year altering the Yard area and rehoming a good deal of cattle manure! The cattle rails in the sheds were all cut down and we moved and installed concrete panels to make bays for our various different soil ingredients. We also set up a workshop filled with new equipment. December really did feel like Christmas with deliveries of workshop items arriving each day.

The start of the New Year saw ongoing maintenance around the Yard, with the installation of new water pipes and the cleaning and repairing of gutters. We were also ready to take receipt of additional new materials and so further areas in…

Now that we are in May, we are reflecting on Earth Month, looking at the origins of this important, annual event and shine the spotlight on a school that is walking their sustainable talk.

April is Earth Month and millions of people around the world also mark Earth Day, on April 22, to show their support for the environment. As the climate crisis becomes increasingly more serious, each Earth Day that comes along takes on greater significance.

The first Earth Day was the brainchild of US senator and environmentalist Gaylord Nelson and took place in 1970 to highlight the importance of clean air and water, following a 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. The event saw an astonishing 20 million people across the US taking to the streets – around 10 per cent of the country’s population at the time.

However, it could be argued that the stage had been set for change almost 10 years earlier, with the publication of Rachel Carson’s New York Times bestseller, Silent Spring, in 1962. The book represented a watershed moment, selling more than 500,000 copies in 24 countries as it raised public awareness and concern for living organisms, the environment and the inextricable links…

Landscape Institute hosts Climate Emergency Conference

Held last week, the Landscape Institute’s ‘Mitigating the Climate and Biodiversity Emergencies’ conference was delivered virtually over three days.

The conference debated a number of important themes and discussed imperative actions, exemplar practice, core skills and thought leadership around mitigating the climate emergency. Delegates heard from a range of established speakers on the topic, and there was also the opportunity to contribute to the debate by connecting and networking with people from across the landscaping profession and wider, associated fields.

On Day One, Anthony Dewar, Professional Head Buildings and Architecture, Network Rail, together with Matt Winfield, England Director at Sustrans and Selina Mason, Director of Masterplanning, Lendlease debated “what are the contradictions for landscape designers when designing for Net Zero?”

In attendance at this discussion, we were interested to hear from the contributing parties that the main barriers to adopting more biodiverse, nature-based solutions can be summarised as follows:

As we all look forward to Easter and hopefully some time off spent in the garden, we have another very welcome guest blog, this time from  Madeline Miller.  Madeline is a writer at Best legit essay writing services and Lia Help. She covers gardening tips and has a particular interest in wildflowers. She also is a blogger at Big Assignments.

Many people are now looking to create wildflower meadows, whether that’s in their own back gardens or on  a larger scale. They’re certainly better for the environment, and are more beautiful than a regular lawn. However, they can be more difficult to bring to life than a regular lawn. Here’s why your meadow (if you are seeding) may not be succeeding, and what you can do to fix the problem.

Not Doing The Right Preparation

 There are lots of seed mixes on the market that promise you a wildflower meadow,  but when you sow it where you want it, none of them bloom. This is often because you haven’t done the prep work before buying those seeds.

“You need to know…