Stanford North residents will have noticed the grass triangle at the entrance to the village was not mown short this summer.  Only the edges were cut in an experiment to see if we can encourage more variety of plants to grow there, especially to help pollinators find what they like.  Many thanks to Sîan Vranken who was the one who got this going before she moved out of the village.

We think it went quite well, given no actual planting was done – Sîan reported a long list of species that would not have been there if the grass had all been cut.

The long grass has now been rough cut (thanks to Alastair Holt) and the cuttings raked away (thanks to a flash-mob of villagers – pictured) as recommended to encourage new growth of flowers next season.

The Council now needs to decide whether to do more before next spring – harrowing and planting of wildflowers could make this area look really good and enhance biodiversity. But it will need some money spending.

If anyone has any views, or maybe suggestions for funding/sponsorship, have a word with any parish councillor or Debbie Burton (first left in the picture above) who has taken over from Sîan as mastermind for the project.