11:09am Friday 10th July 2009
By Alex Lewis
THE biggest wildflower meadow in Britain has just burst into life on the edge of St Albans, 20 acres of ideal habitat for butterflies and other insects.
A key part of the ambitious Chiswell Green Butterfly World project, which will eventually boast a huge dome filled with thousands of colourful tropical insects, the meadow has opened to the public with 65 species now in bloom.
Its designer Ivan Hicks said: ““The colour is unimaginable, like a kaleidoscope – better than I had dreamt of – and it only took 12 weeks to grow. This really does demonstrate how effective and stunning a wildflower meadow can be and how it can flourish in a heavily polluted atmosphere. It has created a spectacle of colour for humans and an immediate nectar transfusion for the butterflies, bees and insects.”
The first phase of the meadow uses only cornfield annuals including species from all over the world such as Californian bluebells, Mexican hats, poppies and lupins, but it will eventually be sown with native perennial wildflowers.
Using a huge spraying machine on a larger scale than ever before attempted, Mr Hicks removed the top soil and spread wildflower seed in varied colour combinations for different parts of the site, turned into a liquid mixture with seaweed concentrate.
He said: ““It has been like using those magic painting books that children have – spraying the seeds and waiting for it to rain to reveal the colour. It is a very rewarding and exciting way of working.
“The secret is to get rid of all the top soil as it is too rich in nutrients and has a burden of weed seed. Weeds, like docks and nettles, survive on nutrient-rich soils and by using the basic soils under the top soil you return to the natural habitat of the earliest wildflowers and annuals – to how the land would have been in the Ice Age.”
Conservationist David Bellamy, the project's patron, said “This is a hugely exciting conservation project which will get everyone thinking about how they can make a luscious habitat for a variety of creatures including butterflies and bees, which are in worrying decline. This is the first stage of a highly important conservation programme echoing a stark message about our environment.”
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