The Rockery

We are beginning to transform the rockery into a wildflower meadow, creating an area that is less intensively managed than other areas of the gardens. This provides habitat for small mammals, amphibians and invertebrates. Many of these animals will act as natural pest control eg. frogs eat slugs, beetles eat grubs, ladybirds and hoverfly larvae eat aphids.

The Beckenham Place Park volunteers will be working with the BPP Gardeners to grow the plants and maintain the area. We will be removing thistles and dock, but allowing many of the wild flowers (aka ‘weeds’) to grow.

We will install a low barrier to deter people from entering the rockery area as there are concealed trip hazards and delicate plants and seedlings that could be damaged by trampling.

We have sown wildflower meadow seeds in the roped-off areas. The mix includes Yellow Rattle, which grows as a parasite on grass. Over time this weakens the grass, giving the wildflowers a chance to grow. Meadows take a while to establish and may not look their best until their second summer (2024). We have planted ferns and foxgloves and will have more plants to add in the spring, including Wild Carrot, Goat’s Rue, Perennial Sweet Pea, Cowslips and Evening Primrose. We will experiment to see which plants are happiest in these conditions.