Wildflower zones created after consulting expert

2021

This our first year at Childwall of creating wildflower zones. We have planted three zones on the course, successfully attracting bees, butterflies and a myriad of insects. We have treated this first year as an experimental one. 

Mark, our Head Greenkeeper and Mike, our Chair of Greens consulted with a wildflower specialist, Howard Wood, taking advice on the appropriate seed mixes we should use and the different approaches to preparing the zones to encourage growth. We used different soil preparation approaches in each of the three areas to facilitate comparison and assessment of the most effective technique.

We now have three well-established zones with good learning points on which seeds and which soil preparations have worked best. This knowledge will enable us to create additional zones next year. The reaction from members has been very positive. We made sure to place the zones in areas which were sunny but well away from the normal areas of play.