“Living on the Edge” - Why should we care about Roadside Verges?
Imagine if our routes to the places we walk, cycle or drive were flanked only by walls, concrete and pavements or vast areas of rutted mud… with little or nothing green for miles. Luckily, here we don’t have to live that experience because in rural Forncett we have few pavements and many roadside verges.
Why do verges matter? Verges provide valuable habitats for wildlife, potentially increasing biodiversity. Countrywide, they cover a vast area where wild plants can flourish and produce both shelter and food materials for huge numbers of animals, especially insects (including pollinators), birds and small mammals. A few species, like the White Dead Nettle, which probably came to Britain with the Romans, can flower in every month of the year!
Thriving plants not only help to maintain healthy soils but also contribute beauty, fragrance, colour and interest for passersby, especially walkers, with time to notice their seasonal changes.
What makes a ‘good’ verge? Verges are generally better, i.e. more biodiverse, if they are
- wide rather than narrow,
- have a hedge with a mixture of native shrubs,
- have some mature trees,
- have a ditch or sloping bank.
All these features help to provide different habitats and, combined with aspect (facing N, S, E or W), they influence the amount and quality of light, water, minerals and heat reaching the plants on the ground and determine what can grow there.
The road shown in the photo has verges with all these benefits which is why I chose it for a botanical survey in 2024, to record each species seen in flower every month. (Results were presented at the FNM open meeting at the Village Hall on 25th April 2025.)
Wild plants grow only in conditions where they can survive. Primroses and Cowslips need early spring sunshine and sufficient water: Greater Stitchwort won’t establish on dry verges: Violets will soon disappear if choked under tall, lush grasses and Stinging Nettles!
Photo - Violets
Human Activities have significant Impacts. As usual, humans can help or hinder the success of verge biodiversity. Local councils are responsible for most of the policy on mowing, pesticides and winter salting but individuals – particularly drivers - can also help if they want to.
Verges have to be mowed to keep roadways clear enough to be safe, but the mowing regime should take into account the year’s weather conditions and be tailored to maximise the number of species that can flower, set seed and store energy in root systems for the following year. Mowing too frequently at inappropriate times does significant damage to biodiversity.
Passing spaces on narrow roads are a problem. Anticipating where to stop to allow someone else to pass, without driving up over the verge, seems to be a skill in short supply and drivers could do so much to help avoid creating extra muddy gouges in the verges, which develop into deep and dangerous potholes, destroying the verge plants completely.
Winter salt (on major roads) can have ecological consequences. The blanket of white-flowering Scurvy Grass, which bloomed recently on the central reservation of the A11 is a striking example of a salt-tolerant species taking over from the usual inhabitants, which struggle in saline conditions. (Scurvy grass is not a grass but a small, maritime plant, rich in vitamin C, and originally rarely found inland.)
We have so many interesting and unusual plants in and around the Forncetts. My survey revealed 89 different species flowering in the course of the year, with maximum numbers in May and June. Despite its good range of habitats many species, like Cowslips, Alexanders and Lady’s Bedstraw, present in other roadsides in the Forncetts, were absent from this one.
There are plans for more surveys so, if anyone is interested in helping with surveys or has a favourite verge or knows of roadsides with a particularly varied flora, please get in touch with me via the Forncett Flyer or Forncett Nature Matters.
(Photos – Mike Merrick)