Mini Garden Survey: Perfect lawns are for prats!

The sun was shining and a faint breeze in the air. I put my feet up onto the garden bench, leaned back in my chair and watched as the swifts screamed, twisted and turned like boomerangs, emerging from the bright blue of the sky, altering their course as they catch insects mid-flight.

As I looked down, I noticed that  there were plenty of things going on in the grass. Which gave me an idea... I wondered how many plants and insects were in a simple lawn that had not been mowed for a week. I chose a small area, right in the middle of the lawn, and had a little rummage in a patch about a metre by a metre. It was quite a casual survey, only taking ten minutes or so, but I guess one that could easily be repeated in future, and maybe in more detail!

The Results! 

First, I set about identifying the plants in the patch. Forgive me for any errors in identification, my botanical skills have lots of room for improvement! Some photos have been taken with my camera phone through a field hand lens, which worked quite well despite the odd bit of vignetting on the right hand side of the photos.

Daisy Bellis perennis

Dandelion Species Taraxacum sp.

White Clover Trifolium repens

Lesser Trefoil? Trifolium dubicum

Selfheal? Prunella vulgaris

And that is not forgetting the grass species in the lawn, of which I could distinguish at least two, but did not ID to species level.

There were a few insects that paid the patch a visit or two. Including two species of ant, bumblebees, honey bee and an insect that came so briefly I could not get a good look and photo to ID properly.

Yellow Ant Lasius flavus

Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius

Honey Bee Apis mellifera

Bumblebee species?

I have no idea! 

 So what have I learnt from my micro-study? Even small patches of lawn can be species rich and be host to a fairly diverse amount of wildlife. Also, my plant and insect ID could do with some practice! A more in depth study of the patch and a longer observation could give better results. What about species in the soil? What about a transect across the lawn?

I was shocked to find that a lot of the plant species identified are quite often referred to as weeds (of course, there is no such thing!). Which I find is a bit of a tragedy. Anyone that does not want a splash of daisies and clover across their lawn, with frequent visits from the wonderful bees and insects that choose to feed from these, is insane. I curse those with immaculate, carpet-esque lawns, devoid of life.

Also, check out Notes on Natures recent fascinating post about the plants that grow in his lawn when left for a few weeks http://notesofnature.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/in-garden-whats-in-my-lawn.html. Its a great blog, with some very interesting reads!


On a slightly different note, meet Casper. The over-groomed, semi-bald African Grey. Unfortunately she needed a new home, and we were lucky enough to be able to provide her with one. :)

Casper!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my mini survey, the next blog will include a walk to Warren Villas (amazing!) and a blackbird chick... Thank ya'll!