The Meadow Makers' Network Forum

Interesting, thanks Alex. I have just looked it up, and I have seen some small blue flowers rather like those of pale flax in another field last year, so maybe that's it. I'll watch carefully for flowers this year.

Hi Alex...for some reason your post didn't appear until today, so I posted my reply before I'd seen yours! Sorry.

Lovely book. It does look like lavender but I'm offering another possibility. Its a bit of an outsider but it was the first thing that came to mind when I saw your photo. Betony. I've joined a couple of photos of betony in my field, and a dried head...the dried one looks much more spiky I know, but ...

Thanks Richard , that's really helpful. The toadflax (possibly) I'll keep watching and see if I can catch it in flower. I've just looked up Cinnabar moths. I haven't noticed any here, despite plenty of Ragwort. But there is some similarity to Burnet moths by the look of it, of which there are many, ...

Can anyone identify these plants...the first is a very delicate, quite small plant. The second I feel like I should know, as they were everywhere when I was a kid, covered in black and yellow striped caterpillars. Here I have one solitary plant, the first time I've seen one in 7 years and it just se...

A nice idea to focus on one species...and I'm certain others will benefit as a side effect. I suppose one of your main concerns will be to keep invertebrate numbers high in order to feed your hedgehog (and hopefully their family!). Research seems to point to higher vegetation mass as correlating wit...

Hi Richard. Yes, I think there's more or less a concensus that the best way to decrease soil fertility is to remove the grass cuttings every time you cut the grass. This can be with a machine or by hand. It may be several times a year or once every several years. A good average may be to cut once a ...

In which situations would it be considered a valid option to remove the topsoil from an ecosystem and re-plant with a seed mix? I have to be honest and say that it engenders in me the same reaction I'd expect to get if I heard the president of Brazil announcing that his 'Rainforest Regeneration Prog...

Yes, very good points about the dry-ness of places as being so important , for overwintering, and also often nestbuilding. Brilliant shed by the way Paul...and love the lizard photo...fantastic! I have a friend who swears that every time she puts a bit of tarpaulin over something she finds a hedgeho...

Hi there. I have started learning about this only in the last 10 years, and also found that it can seem complicated at first...and, let's be honest, there are always some people out there who are TRYING to complicate things ( usually to sell us something!). I would make an appeal to keep things simp...