One solution for complex BNG landscape specifications
Development landscape specifications are becoming ever more intimidatingly complex. Separate seed mixes for formal lawns, transition zones, wildflower edges, and meadow areas. Each with its own establishment requirements, seeding rates, and maintenance schedules. Different species for sun versus shade. Contingency plans for failed germination. Meeting Biodiversity Net Gain requirements for your lawn through multiple seed mixes, establishment risks, and tight completion deadlines creates a perfect storm of compliance pressure for developers and contractors.
The paperwork alone is enough to give anyone a headache!
But what if you could replace that entire complicated specification sheet with a single product?
One solution, multiple applications
We believe you don’t need different products for different areas of your site. Grasslands Species Rich Turf has been created to adapt naturally to the growing conditions and the maintenance regime applied.
Want a more traditional lawn appearance in high-traffic areas? MOW MORE FREQUENTLY. The grasses will dominate whilst wildflowers persist at lower levels, creating a tidy, usable lawn that still supports pollinators through low-growing species.
Want wildflower-rich edges with maximum biodiversity? CUT THE SAME TURF LESS FREQUENTLY in those zones. The wildflowers will flourish and come to dominate, creating exactly the meadow aesthetic specified in your plans, without the separate seed mix, separate establishment protocol, or separate risk of failure.
This self-selection based on micro-climate and maintenance means you can install the identical product across your entire site and achieve the varied aesthetic outcomes your specification requires. No complicated planting plans. No risk of applying the wrong mix to the wrong area. No seed mix boundaries that might become visible as some areas establish better than others.
Practical advantages for developments
For contractors and developers, this simplification translates to real benefits:
Reduced installation complexity: One product to order and install rather than multiple seed mixes requiring different techniques and timing.
Predictable costs: No risk of reseeding failed areas or waiting additional seasons for establishment. The project is complete when the turf is laid. SEND YOUR INVOICE – GET PAID!
Immediate site stabilisation: Species Rich Turf provides instant erosion control and ground cover, crucial for developments with tight completion deadlines or stormwater/ SUDS management requirements.
Guaranteed biodiversity: Achieving your 10% biodiversity net gain requirement isn’t dependent on successful seed germination. With Species Rich Turf functioning as biodiversity net gain turf, the habitat value is established immediately – 30+ native species already present, already establishing, already delivering measurable biodiversity units.
Simplified handover: Maintenance instructions are straightforward – vary cutting frequency by area to achieve different aesthetic outcomes. No complicated first-year establishment protocols to pass on to grounds teams.
The field-grown advantage
Grasslands pioneered field-grown wildflower Species Rich Turf, using robust grass rolls as a carrier medium for native wildflower species. This isn’t synthetic reinforcement or plastic netting – it’s naturally sustainable turf that’s been grown without artificial support.
The turf contains an impressive diversity: from common knapweed and oxeye daisy to meadowsweet and self-heal, with 30+ species that would be extraordinarily difficult to establish from seed in a single season. Some, like yellow rattle, are notoriously difficult to establish from seed at all but arrive in Species Rich Turf ready to function.
As a natural product, some species will flourish more than others depending on your local soil conditions, aspect, and climate. But that’s the beauty of it – the turf contains enough diversity that the species best suited to each microclimate within your site will naturally succeed, creating genuinely site-appropriate plantings without the guesswork of seed specification.
Rethinking landscape specifications
Species Rich Turf offers a more reliable approach. Install mature, established turf across your site for instant kerb appeal. Vary maintenance to create different zones. Let the natural adaptation of the plant community deliver the outcomes your specification requires.
It’s simpler, faster, more reliable, and ultimately more likely to deliver the biodiverse, functional landscapes that developments need. Sometimes, the most sophisticated solution is also the simplest one.
