Huge thanks for turning out in the heat to pull the invasive grasses barren brome and wall barley before their seeds mature and fall! Our Meadow Master did some ladybird observations today, finding a larvae that eluded the camera, pupa and two spotted adult. Special thanks to Peter for his efforts in this years battle against the grasses!

This year grasses have taken hold on the meadow which has in some areas out competed the wildflowers. We are excited and hopeful finding that sown seeds of Yellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor) are now flowering. Not enough but Yellow rattle is also known as the meadow maker. It is a semi parasitic plant, that once established weakens and reduces the dominance of grasses. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/64224/rhinanthus-minor/details

Thank you to all the volunteers who came and helped at the work party today. We managed to clear a lot of cleavers and grass which had been taking over some parts of the meadow. We sowed a UK native wildflower mix into small patches of the meadow as well as some cosmos and nigella seeds that we had collected. One of our volunteers cleaned and oiled the small bench. We discovered lots of new growth coming through so it will be interesting to see the changes in the meadow in the coming months! 

Katherine Buchan Meadow Celebrates Earth Day

Some of the things to see on the meadow today.

Today we celebrated the official opening of the meadow!