In the last 20 years or so there has been great interest in the creation, restoration and management of wildflower habitats. This has been due to:

  1. Concern over the loss of such areas through changing agricultural practices and building development. Creation of new sites should never be a justification for destroying existing ones. Both conservation and creation are needed.
  2. Grassland occupies about one third of the area in many towns and cities, of which about two-thirds is close- mown amenity grass. The cost of maintaining amenity grasslands and mown roadside verges has prompted authorities to find cheaper ways of managing these areas.
  3. Experimental techniques with sowing wildflower mixes on derelict land and sites awaiting development have provided the example for others to follow. Several firms specialise in producing wildflower seeds, with advice available on sowing and management.
  4. Through ‘set-aside’, countryside stewardship and other agricultural schemes to reduce agricultural production, farmers and other land managers are being given encouragement to develop flower-rich grasslands.

Many large schemes have been undertaken, particularly in Merseyside and Sheffield, with use of large machinery for top-soil stripping and other treatments. Equally valid are small-scale schemes suitable for volunteers to undertake with hand tools and garden machinery.

With funding from a Millennium Grant, the national Wildflower Centre is being developed in Court Hey Park in Merseyside by a partnership led by the charity Landlife. The Centre includes educational facilities and a visitor centre, wildflower meadows, glades and gardens, and will be fully open to the public for the Millennium.

Further reading on the subject of wildflower grasslands include Wildflowers Work, Luscombe, Grant and Scott, Richard, Landlife (1994) and Flowers in the Grass, Ash H J, Bennett R, and Scott R, English nature (1992).

This chapter concentrates on the creation and management of small-scale wildflower habitats, suitable for the involvement of voluntary groups.

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