How many of us can remember walking along country lanes with verges of wildflowers alongside and clouds of butterflies, moths, bees and other insects flying above? In an effort to bring this joy to Fifield, in 2021 Green Fifield embarked on an ambition to promote a bright floral avenue into our pretty village, by clearing the grass cuttings from the verges on the main road into the village.
In the last year, we have been thrilled to see that the patches of yellow rattle and cowslip on these verges seemed larger than in recent years, but due to the drought in August’22 it has been hard to see other obvious benefits of our 2021 actions. But, like the haymakers of old, we trust that removing the cuttings from the verges each year after the mow lets the smaller, tenderer plants come through and thrive next season.
With this in mind, in October 2022 the Green Fifield group accompanied by some brilliant, rake wielding volunteers spent an afternoon raking up the cuttings left by the recent verge mow. After much raking, collecting and bagging the group enjoyed a relax after their labours at the local Merrymouth Inn. This is the second year of verge management aimed at promoting the growth of wild flowers and increasing the diversity of plants found in the verges. We look forward to walking the lane in spring to see what results!
The verges leading into the village are one of the largest areas of opportunity for the community to influence the grassland biodiversity of the area, and are a wonderful way to bring lots of different villagers together for a fun few hours, creating even more beauty in our wonderful area of Oxfordshire.
Green Fifield is a local community action group aiming to enhance and add to the existing natural assets of the parish of Fifield and the surrounding area.
