The Meadow Makers' Network Forum

Thanks for reminding me Jane: since I took that photo, bramble and other plants have started to invade the bare soil, so we shall have to do a bit of hand-weeding on our next visit. Not long after we bought the land 9 years ago we did see some tiny bees using that area, so with luck they may be back...

Compared with 2024, this summer should be very good for wildflowers in our meadow on the hill. Bluebells and Pignut have spread from the bottom corner almost everywhere and have been in flower for a while. Knapweed is about to open its flowers and many other species are visible in the sward. 010Swar...

Between the greenhouses and sheds our garden area is quite wild, which means whenever we are sitting at the dining-room table there is something interesting to see outside. Most of the time there's plenty of bird activity around the seed feeders, except when it goes quiet after a swooping visit from...

That's an enjoyable and informative talk. Does anyone know of any entomologists who might be able to spend a few hours looking at our two small wildlife areas in East Devon next summer? Our meadow on the hill is buzzing and chirping with insects on a sunny summer day, but I think an expert would ide...

Thanks for that, Alma. I've now registered for the event: I just had to invent a name for my "business" and state that the area of my non-existent farm is 1.8 ha - 2 untruths before I've even applied for any funding! Maybe someone should publish a list of all the rules, with each one being...

Phew !- I registered for my SFI number then went to the event web page where it states "This workshop is available to any farmer or land manager in Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Cornwall, or the Isles of Scilly currently in receipt of BPS payments " (which I'm not). Reading through a small frac...

Hi dougyreed I'm not an expert, but have been experimenting with small patches in my garden over the last 6 years, and my soil is a damp, stony clay. In one patch I started a bit like you with a couple of inches of compost sowed in late autumn with a "perennials + annuals for 1st year interest&...

My bridge camera is very useful for getting pictures in the meadow - it can go from a macro setting good enough to image an insect in a flower, to a 35x optical zoom to get a decent picture of a tiny bird way up in a tree, all without the need to change the lens. But I'm rarely pleased with my pictu...

Yes, there's some Betony in that little wildflower patch and quite a lot in another patch just below. Also Yarrow, and Knapweed showing its flower heads. Actually in flower now are Campion (nearly finished), Yellow Rattle (vigorous this year), Buttercup, Oxeye Daisy, Cat's Ear, Ribwort Plantain and ...

After last year's unexpected orchid became two this year and were eaten by a deer, we found six more orchids in three different small wildflower patches in the garden:- 040Orchid_LDeck2024-05-29.jpg 040Orchid_UDeck2024-05-29.jpg 050Orchid_JPatch2024-05-30.jpg The first two look vulnerable and are no...