Yesterday I decided with a heavy heart to cut off the tops of some seeding scott thistles. I find this difficult because I know at lot of insects like them, but uncontrolled they can run riot.
The task became all the more difficult when I discovered that the remaining flowers(which are really quite beautiful), where covered in a variety of bees, moths, butterflies and other pollinating insects.
I see this project here as an opportunity to stimulate biodiversity, and the avilable plants, and the insects they support ,is a vital foundation stone in that success.
I spend a lot of time looking out for new sorts of flowers and trees to introduce, to help boost that biodiversity, and yet , time and again, nature reminds me that good old fashioned weeds are often the best.
What exactly is "a weed'' anyway? Who gets to say ultimately what flowering plant is a flowering plant and which is a weed?
Where possible, i have been leaving room for weeds, and that in itself has helped boost the biodiversity here.
Garden flowers often have relatively big flowers, while weeds often have small delicate flowers that appeal to a host of other insect sorts, sorts that often need our help.
For example I am finding tiny bee sorts, that would be easy to overlook, and that I have never before seen.
The field is currently covered in a sea of bright yellow flower , which resemble dandelions, and suppert a wide range of insects. Look closely and you will see clover and buttercups and a host of smaller flowers. A natural meadow.
The grass in the field is usually cut one time a year, and certainly some people may find it untidy, but when I see it I see LIFE.
The contrast to the intensively farmed sorrounding land is enormous. and Sunny and Big Boy certainly enjoy it a lot more just the way it is.