A riot of colour will once again bring the A391 in St Austell to life this summer with our Garden Route which welcomes locals and visitors into the town with a wildflower meadow.
7,000 square meters of specialist wildflower meadows and garden cultivar border the A391 between the Pinetum Garden junction with the A390 and the Carluddon roundabout where the road exits the clay landscape, and at other sites across the town. Created in partnership with Cornwall Council’s Making Space for Nature team, The National Wildflower Centre at the Eden Project and Pictorial Meadows, this is the first of its kind for Cornwall.
Unseen anywhere else in the county, the mix of flora is designed specifically for St Austell to create a sustainable community of plants that support each other to offering an annual floral bloom. The plants include Greater knapweed, Ox-eye daisy, Aster, Wild carrot, Purple Coneflower, St John’s Wort, White
Campion, Orange Hawkweed, Evening Primrose, Verbascum, Salvia, Meadow Buttercup, Yarrow, Birdsfoot Trefoil, Common Oregano, Common Tyme, Viper’s bugloss and Meadows cranesbill have been hand selected for their pleasing aesthetics and for creating a biodiverse habitat to attract bees, butterflies and dragonflies.
It is hoped the meadows will provide cover and food for birds, small mammals and amphibians. Uncut meadow patches will be left as refuge areas for creatures to shelter in over winter months. The meadow verges will be managed with an annual autumn cut, to reduce fertility and ensure continued diversity of flower species. Cuttings will be collected and removed, leaving a healthy sward ready to grow again each springtime to encourage a striking annual bloom.
