Creeping buttercup

[Robin]

Part of my meadow is dominated by creeping buttercup (cb). Apart from couch grass and creeping bent, nothing else grows there. I have tried harrowing and cutting several times in a year, but nothing seems to diminish the vigour of the cb.

I have a constant supply of wood ash from a biomass boiler. I gather that the main component of wood ash is calcium carbonate (lime) and I noticed on a horse-owners' forum that some people have had success in reducing cb by applying lime. The theory is that cb is acid-loving and doesn't like the soil becoming more alkaline.

As is common in Devon, my soil is acid (pH around 5 - 5.5). It is heavy clay on a floodplain, and this area is waterlogged for several months each winter.

What do you think about the idea of spreading some ash on the area where the cb is most prominent? I don't want to harm any plants that like the acid soil (such as orchids), but in this area there is little to lose. My main reservation is that it feels like "improving" the grassland. Perhaps I should not try to alter the soil conditions to suit my idea of what the meadow should look like, but rather allow plants to thrive that are suited to the soil conditions I have?

Any thoughts would be gratefully received.

[Craig Dunton]

Hi Robin. I'd suggest the harrowing and cutting may actually increase creeping buttercup as it will increase seed success through disturbance and creeping buttercup will regrow from fragments. I have seen creeping buttercup dominate in newly established/created meadows, but diminish over time and reach a natural equilibrium. If it is dominant long term, then I'd suggest you embrace it - it will be great for pollinators and you're probably trying to fight a losing battle. Hope that helps!

[Amy]

We have creeping buttercup everywhere, and I have learned to embrace it. This has saved much work, chemicals and angst.

One year I did spray it out from a hen run, and have ever since regretted this, as I also killed all the bugle, clover, yarrow, and knapweed which have yet to come back.

I have spread a dumpybag of lime in another area where the geese graze, to help with any worm count and to sweeten the grass - I can't see it has had any effect, I think I'd need to spread many dumpy bags-worth each year to make a difference, and then I would be changing the character, and losing the local flora.

In my fields, which, like yours, are wet, heavy clay, waterlogged in winter - I have many, many established flowers which successfully compete with the buttercup, such as kingcup, cuckoo flower, speedwell, greater birds foot trefoil, sneezewort, meadowsweet, knapweed, yarrow, etc., etc. These are all in the natural seedbed, I have not introduced them.

2 years ago, I carried out a Pollination Fit Count, which helped me change my attitude, as the buttercup is one of the families they want studied. https://www.ceh.ac.uk/our-science/proje ... monitoring

I also think of the world renowned plantswoman, Beth Chatto, who didn't fight nature, but instead used "plants adapted by nature to thrive in different conditions: right plant, right place. An inspirational, informal garden has developed." https://www.bethchatto.co.uk/
Hope this helps..

[Robin]

Dear Amy,

Thanks very much for your comments. I need no convincing that creeping buttercup is fully entitled to its place in the meadow. It is part of the sparkling display that we get here in May. I will watch more closely to see which insects are visiting it, and send a report for the FIT count.

What led me to ask the question about liming is that I see peaceful co-existence in much of my meadow between the buttercups and many other species. I would say the same of the rushes and hemlock water-dropwort, which some people worry about. There is, however, one area where the CBs are completely dominant and there is no sign, after 12 years, of other flowers gaining a foothold.

I wondered whether some lime might help tilt the balance a bit, so it is very useful to hear of your experience with it. I now think the reason for the dominance of CB in this area may simply be that it is waterlogged the longest, as well as getting very dry in summer - not ideal conditions for most wildflowers. I will continue to monitor this, but I am very happy, as you and Craig have suggested, just to enjoy the display when May comes around.

Thanks again,

Robin.

[Amy]

If you haven't got them already and were interested in an introduction, I find that kingcups, sneezewort, watermint, brooklime, fleabane, purple loosestrife and ragged robin occur naturally in my wettest permanently boggy areas (even too wet for buttercup) which must be on the acid side, and they spread well without help. I find that brooklime, purple loosestrife, meadow sweet, and watermint will also grow in heavy clay which dries out in summer and kingcups will have disappeared down below by then. Having read about floodplain meadows, I am experimenting with an introduction of great burnet seeds, and a few plugs this year too, and I would add fritillaries to the damp areas but the deer and pheasants seek out their flowers for breakfast. All much cheaper and longer-lasting than buying lime which would need applying every year!

(PS - the great burnet failed, probably due to the dry spring and/or being overwhelmed by the next season's grass, and an ecologist suggested to me that as great burnet would not occur naturally in my area, not to bother trying again.

Where I laid raw clay subsoil on the surface of a field to smooth out a few bumps (the subsoil came from creating a pond) - creeping buttercup swiftly colonised, and 4 years later the creeping buttercup still reigns supreme and alone. It must be a pioneer plant.)

[Richard Lewis]

Also bear in mind that wood ash is often rich in potassium, which may have other unintended consequences.

I always think it's best to get the management (cutting and/or grazing) and then see how the ecosystem responds rather than trying to force it into how one thinks a meadow 'should' look. Each patch of land is unique, with huge numbers of variables in hydrology, soil texture, nutrients etc, and will have a unique pattern of seasonal changes. Plants are very well adapted to respond to this, so it looks like the buttercups are just the 'right' plants for your particular patch!