When we opened Sun Rising in 2006, the field had been ‘in hay’ for many years, growing grass to be cut in late June or early July which would be baled for winter animal fodder. Our plan was to transform this grassland into a beautiful and diverse nature reserve, supported by the operations of a natural burial ground: burials would fund the developing nature reserve, the nature reserve protecting the graves in the long run, while nature proffered its beauty to both.
We would be changing the ecology of the field significantly. Planting trees and shrubs, sowing wildflowers, putting in bulbs, digging the ponds, cutting the meadows in August, would all be part of the very positive change. However, work we were doing beneath the surface would also have an impact: putting in extra lines of drainage, as well as burials and interment of ashes.
While native woodland can cope with a range of soil conditions, a wildflower meadow will only thrive on soil that is very low in fertility. Where soil is rich, what naturally grows are ruderal or wasteland plants: stinging nettles, brambles, docks and thistles. There is certainly a place for such plants, which are a wonderful habitat for many moths, butterflies, bees and other invertebrates: at Sun Rising, we keep them to the margins. They aren’t what visitors want to see around their loved ones’ graves. In meadow burial areas, where we are striving to grow beautiful native wildflowers, we need to keep the soil fertility low.
Over the years we have been testing the soil in various areas of Sun Rising to see how both the nature reserve development and the natural burial ground are changing its fertility, specifically looking at levels of phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and nitrogen. The results of these studies will be more valuable in another five or ten years, when we have collected more data, but analysing results now is important as a guide for how we make decisions about both the natural burial ground and nature reserve now. For example, we are now gradually phasing out the option of interring cremated remains, which, as an extremely concentrated source of chemical elements, is just not compatible with the care of wildflower meadows.