Our vision for Marton Churchyard is to promote wildflower meadow restoration and pollinator conservation.Scything is carried out from late July onwards to help protect wildlife such as insects, birds, small mammals and other inhabitants. This main annual scythe also helps locally sourced seeds and plug plants to become established, so the diversity of native wildflowers is increasing. The main paths are mowed regularly to enable visitors to access the seating areas, pond, bird feeders and wonderful views. We are grateful to all those involved in tending and maintaining our churchyard. We hope you enjoy your visit to this beautiful and peaceful place.
As you know, Marton lends itself as a place to enjoy nature and creation. This year 'Churches Count on Nature' runs between 2nd and 12th June. This is an opportunity to celebrate our beautiful churchyard in all its glory and try to identify some of the flowers, insects and birds! From Sunday 6th there will be some identification booklets in the porch (some from Sarah Sigsworth, some from Caring for God's Acre) along with some blank record sheets in case you would like to visit and see what you can observe? I am hoping to spend a bit of time there myself at 3pm on Saturday 12th (weather permitting!) if you'd like to join me? But you can go whenever you like. There are notes on the record sheets to explain how to send them in for compilation. If you follow the link below there are a whole series of free webinars on related topics! https://dioceseofyork.org.uk/news-events/news/churches-count-on-nature-5th13th-june-2021/?fbclid=IwAR1Qx1cg_Ts9sG3krVSbU6eSG_MQ2dc3jm8b9N94ze2EhbouYHmkmkfpZ4s
Scything allows our resident wildlife (butterflies, bees, newts, snails, frogs, toads, voles, crickets, etc) to hop, crawl, fly or hide away!After the successful results last year, we have decided to leave the hay piles in place until spring.They provide valuable habitats over the winter, and also keep the grass down, which will promote wildflower growth next year.
