DHBlog006 · An article by Jean & Tom Smith
Last year we were pleasantly surprised when the wide grass verge (part of a visibility splay) on the western edge of Crossways at the entrance to Dick O Th’ Banks Road was mown much later than usual. This is part of a policy change by Dorset Council where verges are cut less often (rural roads once instead of twice) from late June/July onwards to help wild flowers thrive and complete their life cycles, saving time, money and the environment.
This year we decided to find out just how effective this new mowing regime has been for the diversity of wild flowers and we were in for a pleasant surprise. On 1st June we recorded forty species in our local road verge including five grassland notables: Leucanthemum vulgare (Oxeye Daisy), Lotus corniculatus (Bird's-foot-trefoil), Sherardia arvensis (Field Madder), Lotus subbiflorus (Hairy Bird's-foot-trefoil), and Conopodium majus (Pignut). We understand that if this was a larger area then it would have been worthy of consideration for SNCI (Site of Nature Conservation Interest) status!
Having found this survey to be so interesting we volunteered for some more verge monitoring at three further sites: Middle Farm Way, Poundbury; Louviers Road, Littlemoor, Weymouth; and Morden Road, Sandford. Mariko Whyte, Conservation Officer (Planning & SNCI) Dorset Wildlife Trust, provided us with maps of the road verges from Dorset Council, together with survey forms which included the new DFG 2022 flora recording card and the Dorset notable appendix from the SNCI guidance. At this stage of the summer (3rd – 5th July) the vegetation was already noticeably dry, so this would make identification of species a little harder.
We were pleasantly surprised with our results identifying 53 species at Middle Farm Way, Poundbury, where our highlights included Leontodon hispidus (Rough Hawkbit), a singleton Anacamptis pyramidalis (Pyramidal Orchid) and quite extensive areas on the northern verge of Torilis nodosa (Knotted Hedge-parsley). We understand that this year’s cutting and raking off will be undertaken by EuCAN at this site.
The next site we visited was Louviers Road, Littlemoor, Weymouth. As we approached the site it was obvious that the verges had been cut fairly recently (we think about a fortnight before our visit). Undeterred we carried out our survey and found 57 species including the following notables: Leontodon hispidus (Rough Hawbit), Leucanthemum vulgare (Oxeye Daisy), Centaurea nigra (Black Knapweed) and Lotus corniculatus (Bird’s-foot-trefoil).
Finally at Morden Road, Sandford were two wonderful verges that we’ve driven past occasionally over the last few years. There’s even a noticeboard here explaining the benefits of a wild-flower verge. Here we found 66 species, several of which we assume have been deliberately sown here such as Agrostemma githago (Corncockle), Centaurea cyanus (Cornflower) and Onobrychis viciifolia (Sainfoin). In addition to these we found a total of fourteen notables present including: Centaurea nigra (Black Knapweed), Centaurea scabiosa (Greater Knapweed), Erodium cicutarium (Common Stork's-bill), Knautia arvensis (Field Scabious), Leontodon saxatilis (Lesser Hawkbit), Leucanthemum vulgare (Oxeye Daisy), Lotus corniculatus (Bird’s-foot-trefoil), Origanum vulgare (Marjoram), Plantago coronopus (Buck’s-horn Plantain), Poterium sanguisorba (Salad Burnet), and finally Salvia verbenaca (Wild Clary).
Overall, we enjoyed our grass verge monitoring and will volunteer for further verges next year and probably timing this for early to mid-June.
Image credits: Jean and Tom Smith