The beauty & biodiversity of our road verges

We are on the verge of  the annual no-mow May campaign, so I was disappointed to see that the grassy road verges on the south side of the A25 have been drastically cut. 

Cutting road verges in April is not good for wildflowers and for biosiversity in general. The best time to cut road verges for biodiversity is typically in late summer or early autumn, allowing wildflowers to flower, set seed, and support pollinators. Many wildflowers are in their prime flowering period in April, so cutting them stops them from reproducing. Allowing wildflowers to mature and set seed is essential for their survival and propagation in subsequent years. Cutting in April interrupts this cycle. Wildflowers provide vital food sources for pollinators like bees and butterflies during their peak activity period in the summer months. Cutting in April disrupts this food source. The best time for cutting is typically after the main flowering period, which is usually from mid-July to the end of September.

According to Plantlife’s The Good Verge Guide, over 700 species of wild flowers grow on our road verges, that’s nearly 45% of our total flora. Road verges are home to many familiar wild flowers that are now becoming threatened, such as harebell, field scabious and ragged-Robin. Some 87 of these are threatened with extinction or are heading that way, including the largest British populations of rarities such as Deptford pink, tower mustard and spiked rampion.

The Good Verge Guide provides excellent advice on the management of road verges so why isn’t the Highways Authority using it? Clearly, we have now lost our spring flowering species and may well have destroyed many of our summer flowering species for this year. So much for integrated planning policies that are supposed to protect wildlife and nurture biodiversity.

Plantlifes  The Good Verge Guide

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​This movie draws attention to the beauty, productivity and biodiversity in the road verges in and around Betchworth. ​