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Wildflowers

What are we doing?

We now have over 100 sites across the Flintshire County Council estate which are managed for wildflowers and pollinators. We have a range of sites from naturally diverse sites, where we have started managing the sites to protect the existing wild seedbank, seeded wildflower sites, wildflower turf sites and wildflower plug planted sites. These are all a huge benefit to our pollinators providing steppingstones of habitat in the landscape.

You may have spotted our Nature Area signs which are being installed to highlight the areas being managed for nature. We have invested grant funding in new machinery which will collect the cuttings and a non-chemical weed control system, currently in use by our Countryside and Streetscene team.

The majority of our wildflower sites will receive one cut in the late summer/early autumn after the wildflowers have flowered and set seed. The cuttings at the sites will be collected to ensure the right conditions for wildflowers to continue growing.

Find out more about wildflower meadow management

What you will see

There are many different types of flowers you are likely to see in wildflower meadows. There are some particularly special species we are hoping to encourage which are less common. Below you will find a list of the main species we hope to see in the summer months.

Find out more about common flowers

You will see lots of insects including butterflies and bees buzzing around the flowers. 

Find out more about insects

Wildflowers at Buckley Common
Wildflowers at Buckley Common
Wildflowers at Bryn Road, Mynydd Isa
Wildflowers at Bryn Road, Mynydd Isa

When we sow a wildflower site, the site needs to be prepared for the seed through rotivation or scarifying to create bare ground for the wildflower seed to germinate so it may look bare initially (usually autumn or early spring) it greens up quickly and by mid-summer you will see a whole host of colourful flowers and insects making your local area a bit more vibrant.

Before and after

A before and after image of a wildflower seeded verge in Bagillt.

Move the slider to see the difference!

before after

Why are wildflower meadows important?

  • Wildflower areas and meadows provide an important habitat for insects, birds and mammals and establish natural connections through our urban areas.
  • Wildflowers create a nicer place for walking and recreation. It looks nicer and spending time in a natural place is proven to make people feel calmer.
  • Increasing natural vegetation can help reduce pollutants in the air. Natural vegetation growing in an urban setting can increase deposition of air pollutants from the air onto the surfaces of the plants, making air cleaner to breath.
  • Natural areas can help reduce surface water flooding. Heavy rainfall can be absorbed into the permeable ground and by plant root systems which all reduces the amount and speed of water movement.
  • Natural areas are important to help slow the impacts of climate change. Its not just trees which absorb carbon. Growing vegetation and its root systems absorb carbon from the atmosphere and stores it as biomass.

Losing our wildflowers

  • Wildflower meadow habitat has reduced by 99%, changes in management, infrastructure, other development, and farming practice are all part of the reasons behind the decline.
  • Unfortunately, the small areas of grassland we have left are often managed in a way which reduces diversity and value for wildlife.
  • Most of our grassland sites have been managed intensively over many years, under a program of regular mowing (with grass cuttings left on the ground) this causes grasslands to become nutrient rich.
  • High nutrient levels favour the growth of rough grasses which outcompete wildflowers, gradually the wildflower seedbank in the ground reduces.