Wildflower seed harvest to help nature flourish across Denbighshire

Work is underway to boost the future of Denbighshire’s native wildflowers.

Denbighshire County Council’s Biodiversity and Streetscene teams are working together to produce a local provenance native Denbighshire seed mix to support the Council’s Wildflower Meadows Project.

The Council’s Wildflower Meadows Project helps and protects local nature and supports community wellbeing across the county. It has also been funded by Welsh Government, through the Local Places for Nature funding.

Seed harvesting work is underway at the county’s most species rich wildflower meadows.

Using a brush harvester towed by an ATV, site specific native seeds are collected up through a low impact method as the machine will not uproot or severely damage the vegetation.

Once sourced, the seed mix from the sites chosen for harvesting will be used to helping bring on some of the less diverse meadows through sowing during the autumn period.

Seeds from local county meadows were collected last year and sown on a site at Ffordd Colomendy Denbigh which was struggling. The Biodiversity team have noted a resurgence in wildflowers during a survey there this season.

Ellie Wainwright, Biodiversity Officer, said: “These species rich wildflower meadow sites, created solely by bringing amenity grasslands and urban verges into wildflower management through seasonal cutting and collecting, can now help to improve our less diverse meadows. We are harvesting seeds from a diverse range of plants, and once sown on the selected sites, residents will hopefully see more variety next year. Helping to provide a stronger support resource to pollinators and the local wildlife as well.”

Cllr Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport, added: “This is an important project for restoring habitats that have been severely depleted since the 1930s. I know the Biodiversity team, alongside our Streetscene operatives, have worked hard over the years to manage and develop our meadows. Having our more mature sites give a helping hand to less diverse ones through this seeding work really shows the value of the time and effort everyone has put into protecting nature throughout this project.”