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(Nick Mann)

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The wildflower seed market in the UK is pretty messy. It can be difficult to see which mixes are made up with UK species, which are harvested here, and which aren't actually wildflowers at all! If you want to buy wildflower seed - or are thinking of it - read our quick easy to follow guide before you do.

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Plants For Woodland

A little while ago I was involved in a great whoha about wildflower seeds. Plantlife, the wildflower charity, essentially said all wildflower seed mixes were cr@p and should be avoided. OK, perhaps it was a slightly more nuanced message, but you get the idea! The idea underlying this was to get people to be more sensitive to their local botany, and that trying to replace lost wildflower areas…

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Farming With Wildlife in Mind

Farming With Wildlife in Mind

Farming With Wildlife in Mind

This weekend the Times recommended Isabella Tree’s excellent Wilding as one of its books of the year. It “forces us to rethink farming”. More accurately, it forces us to rethink not farming. For those not in the know, Wildingis about the Knepp Estate. The estate is really poor quality farmland (grade 3 and 4), which has been in the Burrell family for generations.…

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Foodplants for Butterflies and Moths

Foodplants for Butterflies and Moths

What would you think about if I asked you for good foodplants for butterflies and moths? Buddleja? Verbena bonariensis? Hebe? It’s true – they’re all great nectaring plants, and non-native to the UK. So why should I bother with native plants if I want to encourage butterflies and moths?

Well, many native plants are very good sources of nectar, of course. Hemp agrimony, knapweed, wild marjoram and…

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Why Hedgelaying Makes a Better Hedge

Why Hedgelaying Makes a Better Hedge

Hedgelaying now seems hopelessly quaint. It’s incredible to think that there would have been thousands of agricultural workers spending months and months painstakingly managing hedges with slashers and axes. The time it took is mind boggling. This sweet video from 1942 would have been completely unremarkable – I guess the landgirl would have seemed the most unusual thing about it!

Each area had…

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Why and how to plant a native British hedge: an easy to follow guide

Why you should plant a native British hedge and how to do it - a practical guide including tips on plant selection and management.

#hedges

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We sell British trees, hedge & pond plants, heritage fruit trees,"trees for bees", wildflowers, bulbs and meadow seed. Buy online, free shipping to mainland UK.

#wildflowers #meadows #orchards #apples #hedges #trees #bulbs #seed

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Going straight Billy Wix by Mark on Flickr.

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Wildflowers v. green manure

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Chickens and meadows!

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Neonicotinoids and bees; the current argument in the UK.

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The effect of cat predation on songbird populations.

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Lovely movie about the insect world around us.

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Why we should all be planting heritage apple trees!