Mini Meadow project

The Mini Meadow project in Tattenhall is in its third year. This has been the most difficult spring as the weather has either been very wet and cold or hot enough to turn the clay in our gardens into a hard baked surface through which no seed could germinate. So the lovely gardens full of colourful annuals at this time of year has not happened. However the perennial wildflowers have all done well , and there have been lots of ox eye daisies and buttercups. All varieties of hog weed/cow parsley seem to be doing really well. All very useful for pollinators, which then provides food for birds and mammals.

Currently there are 23 gardens and areas of wild flowers around the village. There are other patches which could be included in our square mileage. We would like to develop a register and map of all the wild flower areas in the village, so that we can keep track of them and see if they are linking up to make wildlife corridors. We already have one wildlife corridor from the Jubilee wood through the village, alongside the Mill Brook and past Barnfield. We are adding to the square meterage of wild flowers that Cheshire West and Cheshire are developing throughout the county.

This year the Mini Meadows trail will be a private event, as we are going into everyone's private gardens to see and learn how they are gardening with wildflowers. However if you would like to be part of this group and are interested in learning how you too can take this step then contact transition.tattenhall@gmail.com and we will get back to you with details of the private event.

This is one member's experience of the last three years.

'Janet's garden:This is the third summer for encouraging wildflowers into my garden. Initially I dug up a small triangle of lawn from in my front garden and sowed some mixed wild flower meadow seeds in April. I stopped mowing two larger circles in my back lawn. I've done very little with the back circles except plant a few cowslips and primroses and sow some yellow rattle seeds to try to reduce the amount of lush grass. Last year I dug up another triangle of lawn in my front garden and sowed more wild flower meadow seed into that. The original triangle I left to see what might come up on its own. This year I sowed some organic poppy and cornflower seeds into the front triangles, very few of which have come up, I think due to the rain and cold weather, although I've been surprised how many other plants have made their way in!

I have found this to be a most rewarding new dimension to gardening especially as the native plants attract a lot of insects, and, by increasing the diversity of species into the lawn, more carbon can be fixed into the ground which can help to prevent climate change.'

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