You might have noticed more wild flowers than usual adorning the grassy areas around the village. This is not an accident! A national project called No Mow May is encouraging us all to leave our mowers in the shed for the month of May, to give our native flowers a chance to bloom. (You can find out more about this at: www.plantlife.org.uk )
Timberscombe Parish Council is trying out a new policy of sensitive and selective mowing, not just in May but throughout the summer, to promote the growth of wild flowers that support bees and other insects. We have also planted ‘bee bombs’ – balls of seeds of plants particularly favoured by bees and other pollinators. On recent walks around the village the following flowers have been spotted: primroses, celandines, dandelions, bluebells, stitchwort, early orchids, violets, daisies, cow parsley, buttercups, ragged robin and forget-me-nots (and this doesn’t include all the ones we couldn’t name!). There are also some stunningly beautiful cottage gardens that are a mass of blossom and wild flowers this spring.
The Parish Council is an enthusiastic signatory to the Climate and Environmental Emergency Declaration that has been embraced by County and District Councils across the UK. The Council is delighted to announce that we have recently been awarded a grant from Somerset County Council’s Climate Emergency Community Fund to run a biodiversity survey in the parish – news about this, and how you can take part, will follow shortly.