You may have seen Highways England contractors Keir busy out on the A66 in the past few weeks, adding wildflower seeds and plants to some of the verges.
The work is part of Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Get Cumbria Buzzing project, to help pollinating insects across north and west Cumbria. To ensure that there was good uptake of the seeds sown on the verges, the grass was cut and collected first, then the sites were harrowed, before being seeded and planted with wildflower plugs.
As project manager Tanya St.Pierre explains, “This will provide the best conditions for the wildflowers and grasses to take. We’ve added key species, including yellow rattle, sweet vernal grass, meadow buttercup and red clover. Whilst cuts are done throughout the year to ensure road safety and allow for routine maintenance of the highways, these sites will only be cut once a year from August onwards, and the grass removed. Our overall aim is create areas of species-rich grassland, amongst other habitats, along the A66 and A595, to help pollinating insects such as bees and butterflies to move freely across the landscape.”
The wildflower highway and Get Cumbria Buzzing project have been made possible thanks to support and funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Highways England. Find out more at https://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/getcumbriabuzzing
