Speaking with Johnstown Tidy Towns some ideas are taking shape to create feature areas which could be inexpensive, highly attractive, low maintenance and everyone could help participate in creating.
Autumn is the time to begin planting Spring Bulbs such as crocus, daffodils, bluebells and tulips but these are costly when considering large areas. Autumn is also one of the key seasons to sow wildflower seeds which are less expensive in cost and fairly quick to sow. Many of us are taken with the idea of seeing more wildflower strips around us to add colour, interest and vibrance to our street verges, lawns and individual gardens. We have come to appreciate the value they provide to wildlife, insects and especially to pollinators.
Below we provide some ideas and potential locations for planting. If you like the ideas we encourage you to participate in developing them and volunteering to help your local estate group or Tidy Towns.
Plants can be expensive and they require care and watering. Public spaces need hardy plants which survive the knocks and watering them is a major issue. The portable rainwater butt provided a clever solution for the flower baskets on St Martha's Bridge which required 200ltrs of water each week! More homes could help harvest rainwater but fortunately wildflowers don't require as much 'TLC'.
Anyone who has grown summer wildflowers in their garden will know that once they've expired they don't look particularly good for the rest of the year. To counter this planting a mix of other plants/shrubs helps distract the eye and avoiding large swathes of the same seeding also works well. However most plants need space and don't grow well 'planted on top of each other' so there's a limit to how many will flower in the same patch over the period of a year.
