wildflower meadow

Our paddock, historically used for gardening, then an apple orchard, has been a grazed grassy meadow for the last several decades. We have embarked on a journey to establish a pollinator-specific wildflower meadow focusing on species ideal for bees, insects and butterflies. This is our story, which begins in 2018.

Once Upon a Time

September 2018

We have removed the top layer of grass from three areas which are now, after many weeding sessions, mostly free of vegetation. Using perforated hose to create a rudimentary irrigation system, we are ready with the plug wildflower plants. See our recipe below. {Note…we would not have done it this way if we knew then what we know now!]

For Bees:

Common Agrimony
Cluttered Bellflower
Greater Knapweed
Vipers Bugles
Meadow Cranesbill
Hyssop
Wild White Clover
Tufted Vetch
Wild Marjoram
Wild Thyme

For Butterflies:

Kidney Vetch
Wild Carrot
Lady’s Bedstaw
Birdsfoot Trefoil
Musk Mallow
Selfheal
Burt Saxifrage
Salad Burnet
White Campion

October 2019

Too wet for the bailer, too late for more efficient methods, we mowed it ourselves. The mower got stuck at the bottom and was heroically rescued! Also, we discovered its really hard work to pick up a field-full of clumpy of wet grass by hand. Won’t be doing it that way again!

December 2019

We sowed yellow rattle seed, a wildflower which depletes the nitrogen from the soil, making it more welcoming to the wildflowers over the legacy non-native grasses.

April 2020

By chance a friend of a friend needed a place to keep their 5 pet sheep. The perfect arrangement! We kept them in the paddock for a few weeks then sent them off into the orchard to keep the grass down ahead of apple picking in the autumn.

May / June 2020

With the arrival of summer, we started to see some exciting things happen. Still a lot of grass, but a slow transformation is indeed in process!

February 2021

We returned the sheep to the paddock after their winter in the orchard and 5-acre field. They managed to make a small dent in the overpowering grass, though they would have been more effective if they hadn’t spent so much time around the pond!

March 2021

Through a series of mis-connections and delays, we again missed the window for late winter baling of the meadow. So in a last-ditch effort, we mowed it and bagged it with our little walking mowers. Make room for flowers!

April 2021

It greened quickly with the sun and rain and hail (?!?!?) of early spring. The first flowers to arrive?
The dandelion.

may 2021

We have guests! Two grey lag geese have taken up resident in our paddock, swimming in our pond and (I believe) nesting on our island. And now, 4 goslings! The attentive parents have a full-time job guarding them from other birds, 50mph winds, hail and the neighbour’s killer cat. Seen also : two pairs of ducks and a heron.

June / July / August 2021

Very exciting progress this summer! A wide range of flowers with an increased amount of yellow rattle, common and greater bird’s foot trefoil, oxeye daisy and knapweed. We even got some surprise mugwort and burdock. We feel like it’s starting to happen this year, with an exciting progression of different plants throughout the season.

September 2021

After attending an incredibly useful presentation by Dr. Trevor Dines, (you can watch it here) we finally really understood the rhythm and flow of a wildflower meadow. And right on time, we were able to cut and bail! Massive thanks to Glyn for going way out of his way to do this for us.

December 2021

The five resident sheep have settled in, keeping the grasses down for the last several months, they will continue now through winter.

May 2022

And the cycle begins again. Yellow rattle bursting through really well in the north section of the meadow. Buttercups and birdsfoot trefoil throughout! A beautiful display we share with our gray lag goose family - three goslings this season, with two very attentive parents.

June / July 2022

As the heat sets in, the next round of flowers appear, including the marsh orchids which have managed to travel up much further away from the pond this year. First knapweed spotted.

Sept 2022

After a long hot summer, here are some last views of our rather crunchy meadow. Is ready for its annual cut and bail. Thank you again to the ever-supportive Glyn Hughes and his mini-bailer!

April 2023

We had a day of earthworks with Glyn and the mini digger! Behind the moon gate in our north garden we created a circular seating area. This resulted in a lot of really rich soil. We decided to fill in the most prominent of the three patches that we created many years before, which hadn’t really worked properly. We jumped on the opportunity to fill it in, and proceeded to plant a custom selection of wildflower seeds. In other news we had FOUR pairs of grey lag geese all fiercely competing for control over the island in our pond.

Within a week, the first seedlings appeared, along with the first cowslips and hints of the yellow rattle.
And an egg was lost.

May 2023

And the bloom begins in earnest! In the end, two mothers decided to share the island, each nesting on opposite sides of the small space. The mothers and goslings are now out an about, enjoying the organic ‘buffet’ of the newly sprouted wildflower patch….sigh…you can’t pick and choose when leaving nature to do its thing!

June 2023

Summer sun and rain and full blooms. Marsh orchards and a range of new blooms in the newly seeded patch.

August 2023

The late summer flowers at their best, a very early apple crop, and a happy grass hopper.

September 2023

A week of sunny weather set the cutting and bailing job into motion. Thank you Glyn!

February 2024

Thank you ladies! Our resident sheep continue to be a vital part of the wildflower meadow cycle of seasons.

May 2024

Warm weather brings a burst of buttercups and early flowering wildflowers to the meadow! A rich blanket of yellow.

June 2024

The density of yellow rattle and other small non-grasses is encouraging, we are finally breaking the nitrogen cycle of our soil, reducing the nitrogen content to make it more welcoming to the wild-flowers. We saw more orchids in more locations this year than ever before. There are still a lot of docks on the meadow, which are carefully removed individually before the seeds are allowed to spread. The one rather labour intensive part of the annual process.

August 2024

At the end of a cold, un-summery summer it all seems a bit anti-climactic! But the flowers didn’t seem to mind too much, the sheer mass of growth in the meadow is a wonder. Some late flowering beauties are a reminder that its not winter yet!

September 2024

A prompt cut and bail from Glyn this year. Always in tune with the weather, there was a long spell of warm (ish) and dry, so everyone was frantically bailing till the late hours of night all around the villages!