Read on Twitter
A thread. This morning I am angry, and sad. Why? Because the TV celeb that has the largest audience to talk about ecology in the UK, @ChrisGPackham, has shown total ignorance of ecology. Mowing this verge didn& #39;t "destroy" it! Cutting is necessary to maintain biodiversity 1/n
2/n It& #39;s a basic ecological process. Cutting mimicks grazing by animals. Without it, flower-rich grasslands and verges turn to scrub, and then to forest. Could it have been done later? Certainly. But by end July, many plants will already have set seed.
3/n With a similar lack of understanding of ecology, he celebrates these "wildflower verges" which are looking great, but are all but "wildflowers"! The problem with these are multiple: non-native species, use of glyphosate pre-sowing, cost of annual replacement etc
4/n these naturalistic seed mixes would no doubt look good in a garden. But people are now requesting them to their councils, and that& #39;s dreadful! This is what a typical road verge mix may look like...
5/n This may feel like a personal attack against Chris Packham. It& #39;s not. I think he has done a great job at bringing nature into more people& #39;s lives through TV. But please, please, when it comes to plants, talk to people who know about botany!
6/n Likening pictorial meadow mixes to the 97% of meadows lost in the UK isn& #39;t just wrong, it& #39;s somehow an insult to people who work for the conservation of the 3% remaining. Why can& #39;t we educate people to what we& #39;ve lost? Why do we have to replace it with something "prettier"?
7) One argument is that pictorial meadows are a "first step" to help people accept more "wilderness". But by doing that, aren& #39;t we skewing people& #39;s idea of "wildflowers"? I& #39;ve seen comments under pictures of pictorial mixes saying "it looks much better than our boring flowers".
8) With careful management & nutrient reduction, many verges can become more diverse & flower-rich. For other areas, native seed mixes exist, as well as native flower turf. Why not help the conservation industry and promote good practice?
