Nature on our doorsteps: Letting the grass grow
By Rosaleen Dwyer
When we let the grass grow in our meadows, grassy verges, and in our back gardens, the wildflowers that bloom are usually the familiar Buttercups, Daisies, Red and White Clovers, and Self-Heal. All these are great flowers for pollinating insects.
In some areas however, such as in Tymon, Greenhills, or around Lucan, a much more diverse range of flowers might appear in addition to these familiar species.
Tymon Park's esker soils support rich flowering meadows
This will be due to the light, lime-rich soils in these locations.
These soils were left behind by the melting glaciers at the end of the last Ice Age.
They were shaped into long, meandering, low hills called eskers and they gave rise to the placenames Greenhills and to Esker, in Lucan.
The ancient Irish roads the Slí Mhór, Slí Dhála, and Slí Chualann, followed these hills out from Dublin and, over the centuries, their sandy gravelly soils were excavated as building materials.
Familiar Buttercups and Clovers, growing beside exotic Bee Orchids
These light, lime-rich esker soils support many more types of wildflowers.
These include Pyramidal and Bee Orchids, Fairy Flax, Lady’s Bedstraw, Birds-foot Trefoil, Goat’s Beard, Rest Harrow, Ox-eye Daisy, and St. John’s Wort.
This huge diversity, in turn, supports additional butterflies, bees, beetles, ants, and other invertebrates.
These diverse wildflowers and insects are currently at their best in Tymon Park’s wonderful, tall, flowering meadows.
