Wildflowers from Meadow Creations are just one aspect of their work but can take time. As in farming planning a project, executing that project and then seeing the project come to fruition can take months if not years.
Trevor from Meadow Creations told Welsh Country of a job to make something of what was bramble wasteland. The pictures really add to the story.
Revisit of a job we started ground prep for in July last year, of what was Bramble wasteland. Wildflower seed was sown last September with good germination including yellow rattle and has totally transformed the environment. Looking forward to seeing how it develops through the summer.
As one travels around Wales hedgerows and grass verges vary considerably from completely unkempt to tightly cut. With the right vegetation and management they can be incredibly valuable as nature corridors for insects and small invertebrates and mammals, not forgetting bird life. Meadow Creations are helping with this.
Going into year 2 of our little roadside strip of Wildflowers. The annuals brought a explosion of colour last year, and this year the perennial Wildflowers come to fruition. Though not as colourful at present they have certainly already created a more biodiverse environment. Over the coming weeks (telling Welsh Country in mid-May) we will see the emergence of wildflowers providing a rich food source for our pollinators.
To make a wonderfully tasty omelette one has to break eggs. As previously said creation of wildflower meadows takes time but may start with what looks like messy farming.
Such is the case at the start of a mini wildflower meadow for a school in Pembrokeshire. Within a meadow, creation of paths and other incidentals within the meadow Trevor says can be more than tedious. In addition the end goal needs imagination from a blank piece of land as can be seen from this what looks like rather erratic rotavating but hopefully we will see the beauty in a year or so.
Meadow Creations work in domestic situations as well as commercial and institutional.
It was back in January that Trevor told Welsh Country of a garden that was started three years ago.
Not the most scientific of trials but the past week (mid to late January) has seen a pickup in grass growth especially the ryegrasses and the mowing season will soon be upon us. Photos show shots of a garden where we did a garden makeover three years ago.
The photos were taken throughout last summer, where the client had requested a more nature friendly garden, as well as areas of wildflowers we installed, the lawn area was laid with a species rich turf containing native grasses, clover, legumes and low growing wildflowers. Client requested a area of original lawn remained which is circled in the foreground which we merged with the species rich turf. The dry hot summer last year highlighted the difference between the two types of lawn. The conventional lawn containing ryegrasses put in plenty of early lush growth which needs more mowing but as the temperatures increased and the ground moisture evaporated the grass died off.
The species rich lawn containing native more slow growing deep rooted grasses, wildflowers and nitrogen fixing legumes remained green throughout the summer. Cutting regime for this type of lawn/paddock works best every 3-6 weeks. So with climate change in mind and if you are planning on installing a new lawn this year, want it looking green and is good for nature and pollinators go native!
During the second World War landowners big and small where encouraged to plough up ancient meadows in support of Growing for Britain and as a consequence 97% of meadows have been lost since the mid 1930’s. Often these have been replaced my modern farming methods such as high yield silage field which may only comprise of two or three grass species.
Since the Second World War Agriculture has generally always followed the desires of the government of the day producing more food from fewer acres. But this is now reverting to lower input, lower outputs and more environmental concerns.
Meadow Creations have in their own small way led the way in this, maintaining ancient skills often adapting them to modern working methods and as can be seen over the years created the most wonderful habits.
