在英國，越少修剪花就越多

在英國，越少修剪花就越多

In the United Kingdom, those grassy strips next to the road or the sidewalk are usually mowed four or more times a year for aesthetic reasons, but new guidelines call for a fresh approach: cutting them only twice a year, saving time, money and most importantly, the wildflowers and habitat they provide for wildlife.

在英國,出于審美原因，那些草條旁邊的道路或人行道上的草通常是一年割四次以上,但新準則呼吁一個新的方法:減少修剪，一年只有兩次就可以,節(jié)省時間金錢，最重要的是,為野生動物和野花提供棲息地。

Wildflowers grow along a road in Charltons, England. (Photo: colingrice/Shutterstock.com)

The recommendations for verges, as they're called there, were provided by the wildlife charity Plantlife and have been backed by highway agencies, contractors and other wildlife organizations.

這些建議由野生動物慈善機構(gòu)Plantlife提供，并得到了公路機構(gòu)、承包商和其他野生動物組織的支持。

"Over 700 species and nearly 45% of our total flora are found on our road verges, and considering we've lost 97% of our wild flower meadows since the 1930s, these crucial habitats need to be properly managed," reads a statement on the Plantlife website.

Plantlife網(wǎng)站上的一份聲明稱:“在我們的路邊發(fā)現(xiàn)了700多種植物，幾乎占我們植物總數(shù)的45%?？紤]到自上世紀30年代以來，我們失去了97%的野花草地，這些關(guān)鍵的棲息地需要妥善管理。”

This roadside vegetation provides important wildlife corridors, helping provide a path for animals to travel "an increasingly fragmented countryside," The Guardian points out. "But there has been a 20% decrease in floral diversity on road verges since 1990, in part because of overzealous cutting."

《衛(wèi)報》指出，路邊的植被為野生動物提供了重要的走廊，為動物提供了一條“日益支離破碎的鄉(xiāng)村”的道路。“但自1990年以來，道路邊緣的植物多樣性下降了20%，部分原因是過度砍伐。”

Mowing only twice a year would give plants time to replenish their seeds while restoring floral diversity and, of course, saving money for the government.

一年只割兩次草，植物就有時間來補充種子，同時恢復(fù)花卉的多樣性，當(dāng)然，也為政府省了錢。

The new guidelines will cover more than 500,000 kilometers (310,000 miles) in the U.K. and will help some endangered plants such as fen ragwort, burnt orchid and rampion bellflower.

新的指導(dǎo)方針將覆蓋英國50多萬公里(31萬英里)的范圍，并將幫助一些瀕危植物，如鳳尾草、焦蘭和介子鈴蘭。

As part of the recommendations, no new wildflower seeds will be planted on the verges. Plantlife says sowing generic mixes of wildflower seeds doesn't help conserve the flowers that are already there and can threaten native flora. Planting flowers that are right for pollinators can be costly and take a lot of work to keep up.

作為建議的一部分，沒有新的野花種子將種植在路邊。Plantlife說，種植普通的混合野花種子并不能幫助保護已經(jīng)存在的花朵，還可能威脅到當(dāng)?shù)氐闹参锶骸７N植適合傳粉者的花是昂貴的，需要大量的工作來維護。

Instead, they say that simply cutting them less often and at the right time will give native plants the best opportunity to flower and reseed. "Given the chance to spread, verges will be full of life again before too long."

相反，他們說，只要減少對它們的砍伐，并在適當(dāng)?shù)臅r間將給本土植物開花和重新播種的最佳機會。“如果有機會傳播開來，不久之后，邊緣地帶將再次充滿生機。”