Lambeth Walk Bee Road

Roots and Shoots, a well-established educational and environmental charity, have created a new species-rich wildflower meadow area on part of ‘Lambeth Walk Doorstep Green,’ and important public open space located between Waterloo and Vauxhall in the north of Lambeth.

This area was dominated by poor-quality amenity grassland yet was at the very front of Lambeth Walk Doorstep Green facing out onto busy roads and pavements, and offered an ideal opportunity to add colour and biological diversity to a part of Lambeth that is historically deficient in wildlife and free access to nature.

Following initial clearance of grass and scrub, this area of Lambeth Walk Doorstep Green was scraped free of nutrient-rich topsoils to expose a nutrient-poor substrate, with arisings used to build a network of raised mounds and bunds around the central area. The new meadow was then sown with an annual and perennial native seed mixture to provide not just plenty of rich colours but also a long-flowering, meadow grassland. The raised bunds are planted up with a mixture of native low-profile shrubs and herbs to provide additional wildlife habitat and increase foraging opportunities for invertebrates, birds and bats, which all frequent the site.

To get involved in volunteering opportunities with Roots and Shoots, visit Educational and Environmental Charity.

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