21/09/2026
Nature is amazing.
This summer, our parks took on the appearance of a foreign country, with grass dried to golden hay. In less than a month, since it finally started raining in September, the grass has rejuvenated to an extraordinary extent.
When I walked across Peckham Rye in August, a swathe of the grass had been left unmown and was full of native wildflowers - in particular Ammi majus (bishopsweed) and Achillea millefolium (yarrow). This area had remained green whilst the mown grass around felt like a dusty plain.
In September the wildflowers had been cut down, losing all the seedheads which could have stood for most of the winter.
In the gardens I design, I encourage my clients to leave seedheads and the dead skeletons of plants standing as long as possible. They not only look interesting, they provide fantastic habitat for all kind of creatures. Birds feed on the seeds. Frogs and toads hide in the moist undergrowth. Insects make homes in hollow stalks. The decomposing plants feed the soil.
What if Southwark council only mowed the sports pitches on the Rye and left the chop until late winter? The Rye would take on a whole new character, wilder but more beautiful, greener and more biodiverse.
