CAB18: Flower-rich grass margins, blocks, or in-field strips (on arable land or permanent crops)
What you must do to get paid for this CSHT action and advice on how to do it.
This action is part of Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT). You must read the CSHT guidance before you apply.
Duration
5 years
How much you’ll be paid
£798 per hectare (ha) per year
Action’s aim
This action’s aim is that there’s an established multi-annual flower-rich grass mix which:
- is growing in margins, blocks or in-field strips
- produces flowering plants during spring and summer months, into until early autumn
The purpose of this is to:
- encourage natural crop pest predators as part of an integrated pest management approach, if located close to cropped areas
- provide habitat and foraging sites for invertebrates including natural crop pest predators, wild pollinators such as bumblebees, solitary bees, butterflies and hoverflies, and farmland birds
Where you can do this action
You can do this action on eligible land that’s located below the moorland line.
Eligible land
You can do this action on land that’s:
- an eligible land type
- registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps
- declared with a land use code which is compatible with the eligible land cover
| Eligible land type | Eligible land cover | Compatible land use code |
|---|---|---|
| Arable land used to grow crops | Arable land | Land use codes for arable crops or leguminous and nitrogen-fixing crops |
| Temporary grassland | Arable land | TG01 |
| Arable land lying fallow | Arable land | FA01 |
| Permanent crops | Permanent crops | Land use codes for permanent crops |
Available area you can enter into this action
Total or part of the available area in the land parcel.
Rotational or static action
This action can be rotational or static. This means you can either:
- move the action every year
- keep it at the same location
Limited area action
This action has a 25% limit on the amount of land that can be entered into a CSHT agreement. The limit will apply to the area of land with limited area actions in CSHT and SFI agreements added together. For example, if you have 10% of land in an SFI limited area action, you can only have 15% of land in a CSHT limited area action.
Read section 3.4: ‘Actions with a limited area’ in the CSHT applicant’s guide for more information.
What to do
Your Natural England adviser will assess your land. They’ll work with you to adapt and agree the activities you must do to achieve this action’s aim. All mandatory activities will be set out in your agreement document.
To get paid for this action, you must:
- establish flower-rich margins or plot or in-field strips using a seed mix agreed with you Natural England adviser
- manage the plot as agreed with your Natural England adviser which could include cutting and grazing
You must not:
- use the plots for regular vehicular access, turning or storage (for example, storing bales or machinery)
- apply any fertilisers and manures
- apply pesticides – you may be able to use herbicides to spot-treat or weed-wipe for the control of injurious weeds, invasive non-native plant species, nettles or other plants if this has been agreed with your Natural England adviser
In the final year of this action’s duration, you must do this action until the agreement end date or this action’s end date, whichever is earlier.
When to do it
You must do this action each year of its duration.
Evidence to keep
You must keep evidence to show what you have done to complete this action. If it’s not clear that you have done this action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve its aim, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) may ask for this evidence.
You must supply the evidence if they ask for it, including:
- field operations at a land parcel level
- associated invoices
- details of seed mix
- photographs
- records of stock grazing on the parcel (if you manage the plot with grazing livestock)
Other actions or options you can do on the same area as this action
You can do the following actions or options on the same area in a land parcel as this action.
Some actions or options can only be done on the same area if they’re done at a different time of year to this action.
| Scheme | Action or option code |
|---|---|
| SFI 2024 actions | CSAM1, AGF1, AGF2, OFC3, OFC4, OFC5, OFM4, OFM5, OFM6, PRF2, CIPM1, CNUM1 |
| SFI 2023 actions | SAM1, IPM1, NUM1 |
| CSHT actions | CSP13, CSP14, CSP15, CWS1, CWS3, CSP21, CSP20, CPAC1, CAGF1, CAGF3, CAGF2, CAGF4 |
| CS options | OR3, OR4, OR5, OT3, OT4, OT5 |
| ES options | N/A |
You can do the following actions or options on the eligible boundaries of a land parcel entered into this action:
- CSHT actions: CWT3, CHRW4
- SFI 2024 actions: CHRW1, CHRW2, CHRW3, BND1, BND2, WBD10
- SFI 2023 actions: HRW1, HRW2, HRW3
- CS option BE3 (management of hedgerows)
Consents, permissions and licensing requirements
To apply for this action, you’ll need:
- Scheduled Monument Consent from Historic England for any work on scheduled monuments
- consent from Natural England for any activity on land designated as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI)
You may need to:
- agree an implementation plan or feasibility study with your Natural England adviser
- get advice from your Natural England adviser if you have other historic or archaeological features on your agreement land
- get a wildlife licence from Natural England if your activities affect a protected species or their habitat
All historic and archaeological features (including scheduled monuments) are identified in your Historic Environment Farm Environment Record (HEFER).
If you’re a tenant, it’s your responsibility to check whether your tenancy agreement allows you to complete what’s required in the actions you choose. You may need your landlord’s consent.
Capital grants to support this action
If you need to complete an implementation plan or a feasibility study before you apply, you can apply for capital grants plans funding.
You can also apply for capital items to help you achieve the action’s aims. Your Natural England adviser will discuss eligible capital items with you.
Advice to help you do this action
The following optional advice may help you to do this action. Your agreement document will set out all the activities you must do.
Choosing the right location
Plant flower-rich grass margins, blocks or in-field strips where they:
- receive plenty of sunlight, to help the plants establish
- will have low soil fertility - grasses and weeds can dominate fertile areas
- have a low weed burden – wild grasses can smother less competitive flower species while broad-leaved weeds such as bristly oxtongue, docks, nettle, ragwort or thistles are hard to control once they’re established
- are close to complementary food and shelter habitats such as bumblebird mix, cultivated areas for arable plants, hedgerows, scrub and winter bird food
- are rectangular-shaped making management easier
- have easy access – avoid remote plots that can make it harder to carry out management at the right time
Avoid areas known to support scarce and declining arable plants, such as corn spurrey, pheasant’s eye and shepherd’s needle that require annual cultivations to thrive
Plot size, shape and distribution
Sow several flower rich margins, blocks or strips of different sizes (ideally between 0.5 and 2 ha) evenly across your farm. This will help create a network of interconnected habitats for insects and other wildlife to move between.
Establishing flower rich grass margins, blocks or in-field strips
Establishing a mix of grasses and native wildflowers in plots within arable fields can provide:
- pollen and nectar for declining pollinators, such as bumblebees, butterflies and moths from late spring into autumn
- nesting sites for invertebrates, farmland birds and mammals, such as brown hares
- shelter for invertebrates, farmland birds and mammals, such as brown hares all year round
- food and shelter all year round (including nest sites) habitat for crop pest predators such as ground beetles, hoverflies, lacewings, rove beetles and spiders
- an increase in insects attracted to these mixtures provides food for birds and valuable foraging habitat for small mammals
- a buffer for landscape features such as hedgerows and veteran trees from damaging operations such as deep cultivations and fertilizer or spray drift.
Pollinators benefit from sown flower-rich mixtures when there are fewer wildflowers available in:
- early spring prior to the breeding season
- from late July onwards
What to sow
You will have agreed all seed mixes with your Natural England adviser.
You could consider sowing the following seed mixes to enhance foraging for pollinators:
- 10 or more wildflower species
- species with different flowering times from early spring (such as cowslip, primrose and red campion) through to late summer or autumn (such as field scabious and musk mallow)
- species with different flower colours, forms, scents and sizes to meet the foraging needs of different species – bumblebees can feed on various flowering plants including clover, knapweed and musk mallow, while smaller solitary bees and wasps prefer to feed on smaller flowers such as wild carrot and yarrow
Grass species you can sow include:
- common bent
- creeping bent
- crested dog’s-tail
- rough stalked meadow-grass
- sheep’s fescue
- slender red fescue
- smaller cat’s-tail
- smooth stalked meadow-grass
- sweet vernal grass
Flower species you can choose include:
- agrimony
- bird’s-foot trefoil
- common knapweed
- field scabious
- greater knapweed
- hedge bedstraw
- lady’s bedstraw
- meadow buttercup
- ox-eye daisy
- red campion
- red clover
- ribwort plantain
- sainfoin
- salad burnet
- self-heal
- sorrel
- white campion
- wild carrot
- yarrow
- yellow rattle
The table below shows an example seed mix suited to a range of soil types.
| Grass species | Inclusion rate (%) |
|---|---|
| Common bent | 5 |
| Crested dog’s-tail | 25 |
| Sheep’s fescue | 20 |
| Slender creeping red fescue | 10 |
| Smaller cat’s-tail | 8 |
| Strong creeping red fescue | 10 |
| Sweet vernal grass | 2 |
| Sub-total (%) | 80 |
| Flower species | Inclusion rate (%) |
| Agrimony | 0.5 |
| Bird’s-foot trefoil | 2.5 |
| Black medick | 2 |
| Common knapweed | 1.5 |
| Field scabious | 1 |
| Lady’s bedstraw | 1.5 |
| Meadow buttercup | 1 |
| Musk mallow | 1 |
| Oxeye daisy | 1 |
| Red clover | 2 |
| Ribwort plantain | 1 |
| Salad burnet | 1.5 |
| Selfheal | 1 |
| Wild carrot | 1.5 |
| Yarrow | 1 |
| Sub-total (%) | 20 |
| Total (%) | 100 |
Sow at 10 to 20 kg/ha according to soil fertility, soil type and weed burden.
You must agree all seed mixes with your Natural England adviser.
Sowing the seed mix
Seed mixes are best sown between spring and early autumn when soils are warm and contain some moisture to aid germination.
If you sow in autumn, do this before frosts and prolonged wet weather.
Preparing the seedbed
Sow the seed mix into a seedbed that’s:
- firm
- fine
- level (not cloddy)
- weed-free
- warm
- contain some moisture at the time of sowing
If this is not possible, delay sowing and use the extra preparation time to improve the seedbed (such as reduce cloddiness and control weeds).
Legume species such as red clover (and many other flowering plants) germinate best when sown into soils with a minimum soil temp of 8 to 10 degrees celsius.
Try to avoid:
- over-cultivating the soil in spring prior to sowing, as this can increase moisture loss
- creating ’fluffy’ overworked seedbeds on lighter soils which can result in variable germination due to seed being sown too deep or water impacting the soil (or both)
- creating ‘cloddy’, uneven seedbeds on heavier soils which can also result in small seeds being sown too deep
Drilling and broadcasting
Deciding whether to drill, broadcast or use a combination of both is based on several factors such as:
- available equipment
- experience
- seed mix
- seed-bed quality
- weather
- plot size
- pest pressure
Clover-based pollen and nectar seed mixes containing lots of small seeds will germinate best when broadcast or drilled in a very shallow way onto a level seedbed. Do not drill them into a level seedbed or onto a cloddy seedbed.
Nectar seed mixes contain small seeds such as alsike clover, bird’s-foot trefoil and red clover.
Larger seeds can still germinate if sown too shallow. There’s a greater risk of poor emergence if you sow small seeds 1cm or more in depth.
When drilling, raise the coulters just out of the ground so seeds are essentially dribbled onto the soil.
If you wish to sow larger seeds deeper, sow them separately and then sow the remaining seeds in a second pass at a shallower depth.
Using seed bulking agents to aid seed flow
It can prove difficult to sow small amounts of very small seeds in large modern drills.
Add an inert carrier or bulking agent that’s dense enough to flow through a drill consistently and mix well. This can help with seed flow and achieve a more even seed distribution.
Example carriers include barley meal, poultry chick crumb and wood-based cat litter.
Mixing seed in hopper prior to sowing
It’s also important to remember that seed mixtures containing seeds of varying sizes can settle out during transit. Larger seeds settle on the top and smaller seeds at the bottom of the hopper. This can result in some species being present in some plots and absent in others.
To prevent uneven distribution of sown species across plots:
-
Weigh out the seed required for each plot only when you have reached the sowing location.
-
Manually mix the seed in a receptacle prior to adding it to the seed hopper. This will help address any seed settlement issues from travelling to the plot.
-
Add seed to the drill immediately prior to sowing each plot.
-
Drill until the seed hopper is empty and then travel on to the next plot before repeating these steps.
Sowing to achieve a good distribution of seeds across your plot
It is usually best to sow the seed mix in one go across the whole plot. To achieve a more even distribution of sown flower species across each plot, consider sowing half of the seed in one direction across the plot. Then sow the remainder of the seed at a 90-degree angle to the first pass.
Rolling seedbeds
If seedbeds are still too cloddy or uneven after cultivations, consider rolling to level the seedbed before sowing.
Roll after sowing to:
- maximise seed to soil contact
- help conserve seedbed moisture
- reduce slug damage (by restricting their movement within the rooting zone)
Do not roll:
- when soils are waterlogged
- where there’s a risk of capping on lighter soils after sowing
Managing newly sown flower-rich grass margins, blocks or in-field strips
During the first spring and summer after sowing, check the margin, block or in-field strip regularly to monitor germination. If establishment is poor, you may need to re-sow part or all of it.
Cutting the margin, block or in-field strip regularly during the first 12 months after sowing will help control weeds, so the sown plants can establish. You can do this whenever the weeds are just above the sown flowers, so they’re starting to shade them out. Read ‘cutting the margin, block or in-field strip’ for more information.
Do not graze during the first 12 months. Livestock such as cattle and sheep can damage newly sown flower and grass seedlings if allowed to graze the sward too short.
Managing established flower-rich margins, blocks or in-field strips
Rotational cutting and grazing
This advice applies to established plots and not the establishment phase that’s typically the first 12 months after sowing.
Rotationally cut or graze a proportion of each plot at different times in spring, summer and autumn. This will typically result in a continuous supply of flowering plants from late spring to later summer or early autumn.
Stagger cutting dates and grazing periods so all the margins, blocks or in-field strips are not grazed or cut at the same time. This will help provide a longer and constant supply of flowers for pollinators.
You can leave some of each flower-rich margin, block or in-field strip uncut or ungrazed each year (or just over winter). This will help provide shelter for invertebrates and other wildlife. Try to leave a different area uncut each year. Leaving areas uncut between April and September can improve the breeding success of wild pollinators, such as bumblebees, butterflies and moths.
In some years, thick mulches can form after cutting that can cause bare patches to form and nutrient enrichment of the soil. This can encourage aggressive broad-leaved weeds (such as nettle) and wild grasses (such as creeping soft-grass) to outcompete sown flower species.
Remove the cut vegetation (where possible) to help reduce the risk of it smothering the flower species and increasing weeds. If it’s impractical to do this, you can finely chop them to spread them as thinly as possible.
Cutting and wildlife
If you’re cutting the margin, block or strip:
- check it for signs of nesting birds before you cut it – birds, nests and eggs are protected by law so if you see signs of nesting birds, delay cutting until the birds fledge
- work from one side of the plot to the other (or work from the centre out) to avoid confining wildlife to the path of the cutting deck
Grazing
You can graze flower rich margin, blocks and strips but:
- it’s restricted between March and September to allow flowering plants to complete flowering undisturbed
- needs managing in a way to avoid damage to the soil (such as poaching around mineral licks and gateways)
Weed management
You do not need to keep flower rich margins, blocks or strips completely weed free. Low levels of weeds such as chickweed, docks and thistles can enhance the foraging value of plots by:
- attracting insects (which in turn provide food for farmland birds)
- providing additional pollen and nectar for different pollinators during spring and summer
You can usually reduce weeds by:
- using herbicide before preparing the seedbed
- cutting frequently during the first spring or summer after sowing
Once plots are established, hard to control weeds such as bristly ox-tongue, common ragwort, docks, nettles and thistles may require additional control over time.
Weed control options include:
- localised topping to prevent the return of weed seeds to the soil or weaken established weeds (such as creeping thistle)
- hand removal of hard to control weeds such as ragwort before they complete flowering can be a very effective way of preventing weed seeds being returned to the seedbank.
- spot application of herbicide using targeted spray equipment such as a hand-lance, knapsack or weed wiper
When to re-sow flower rich margins, blocks or strips
You can retain flower rich margins, blocks or strips established using seed mixes containing longer living flower species for 10 years or more before they need resowing. Examples of longer living flower species include common knapweed, field scabious, lady’s bedstraw, selfheal and yarrow.
When re-sowing, you can replace the existing plot by cultivating a seedbed and sowing a new seed mix or spreading green hay. Spreading green hay is best for very tired plots:
- with a low percentage cover of desirable flower species
- that have become dominated by wild grasses or broad-leaved weeds such as bristly ox-tongue, docks, nettle and thistles
Alternatively, when re-sowing, enhance the existing sward by broadcasting or direct drilling a ‘topping-up’ seed mix into the existing sward. This approach is best on plots with a low weed burden where there’s still moderate coverage of flower species.
To minimise short-term declines in pollinators during re-establishment of tired plots, phase the re-sowing of your flower-rich grass margins, blocks or in-field strips over 2 or more years. This means you re-sow a maximum of 50% in a single year.
Getting extra funding
With approval from Natural England, you can sometimes use the CSP9: Support for threatened species supplement with this action to cover additional costs. These are costs you may incur when establishing or managing areas of flower-rich grass margins, blocks or in-field strips for priority species.