The enormous and unexpected popularity of the poppy and wildflower fields beside the A40 to the east of Burford and to the west of Carterton on the road to Alvescot has shown how something so simple and natural can cheer so many people during these difficult times.
The new orchard opposite the Shilton Road junction on Oxford Road is going to be a great community asset as it develops, but it is currently time-consuming for those who have to mow around the trees. Might it be possible to have a poppy and wildflower meadow growing around the saplings?
Why stop there? The large areas of grass either side of the Shilton Road junction are mown flat to a sterile expanse of unproductive grass each summer. Could poppy and wildflower meadows grow there as well? For safety, a metre of mown grass should be maintained at the roadside, but a mown path or two through the flowers would allow people to walk among the flowers and enjoy them.
Time, money and energy would be saved by not mowing, and nature would thrive… …a win-win if ever there was one!
Rory Darling and photo by Nicky Darling