At Stamford Street Allotment Society, we are transforming our communal fruit orchard. What was once a neatly manicured lawn is now being converted into a vibrant wildflower meadow, designed to encourage and support pollinators.

As part of this work, our volunteers – with support from TCV (The Conservation Volunteers) – have already built a dead hedge using branches cut during the thinning of our oak tree earlier this summer. This not only recycles natural materials but also provides valuable habitat for wildlife.

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Creating a wildflower meadow requires some careful preparation. We began by mowing and scarifying the existing lawn, then removing all the grass cuttings. Wildflowers thrive best in low-nutrient soils, where more competitive plants would normally struggle. To help establish them, we sowed yellow rattle, a semi-parasitic plant that weakens grass by attaching to its roots, reducing its vigour and making space for wildflowers to flourish.

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We are also delighted to be working with students from a local high school as part of Chester Zoo’s Network for Nature initiative. Together, we will be recording and monitoring the variety of pollinators that make their home in our orchard and allotments.

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Already, the site is buzzing with insect life – from helpful pollinators to the occasional less-welcome visitor for vegetable growers. Over time, we look forward to seeing a richer and more diverse ecosystem establish itself in our orchard.