We’ve trawled the internet so you don’t have to, to bring you a selection of the best informative short films about meadows. Some of them are just a few minutes long.
HOW TO CREATE A MEADOW
A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO CREATING A WILDFLOWER MEADOW:
Length: 5’28
This is a clear step-by-step guide to planting your own wildflower meadow from seed. It explores how to go about choosing the right seed mix for your site, the best strategies for preparing the ground and the importance of timing it just right. The clip is produced by Habitat Aid, a small Somerset-based business selling British wildflower seed and plug plants.
STARTING A WILDFLOWER MEADOW FROM SCRATCH:
Length: 6’01
A step-by-step guide demonstrating how a grass-dominated field can be transformed into a thriving wildflower meadow. The clip takes us through the stages involved in preparing the soil, followed by the process of collecting local wild flower seed and transferring it to the new land.
MINI GARDEN MEADOWS:
Length: 5’30
If you don’t yet know your annual meadows from your perennial meadows, this is a useful clip. The presenter describes how transforming part of your garden into a meadow can be done and can even save time.
THE ROLE OF YELLOW RATTLE:
Length: 2’58
This clip is part of a series of short videos in which Trevor Dines (Botanical Specialist for PlantLife) explores his wild meadow in Wales. This instalment is about yellow rattle – the ‘meadow maker’ – and its importance in enhancing biodiversity.
A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A MEADOW:
Length: 2’07
This clip illustrates the dramatic changes that a single meadow goes through during the year, as well as some of the work required to help it thrive.
THE SECRETS OF WILDFLOWER MEADOW SUCCESS:
Length: 10’18
This is an old video, but the content is just as relevant today as it was then. It’s packed with useful information and tips for creating wildflower meadows, starting with the vital question: ‘is a meadow right for me?’ It also explores soil type, weed management, use of yellow rattle, how much seed to sow, use of plug plants and strategies to reduce competition from coarse grasses.
SIMON KING’S WILDFLOWER MEADOW:
Length: 4’16
Naturalist and wildlife cameraman Simon King is on a mission to turn the barren agricultural field next to his house into a diverse, wildlife habitat. In this clip, he explains what he’s done to date and what he plans for the future of his meadow. It’s a simple example of some of the stages involved in creating a wildflower meadow.
DIFFERENT MEADOW-MAKING STRATEGIES EXPLAINED:
https://www.agricology.co.uk/field/blog ... wer-meadow
Length: 11’10
There are many ways to create and manage wildlife-rich habitats. Tim Field takes us on a tour of the different types of meadows on Daylesford Farm, including farmland pastures, market garden and wetland.
EXPLORING BRITAIN’S WILDFLOWER MEADOWS
A TOUR OF A DEVON WILDLIFE TRUST MEADOW:
Length: 7’50
Teigngrace Meadow is one of Devon Wildlife Trust’s nature reserves, formed from nearby clay quarries. In this clip, naturalist and television presenter, Nick Baker, takes us on a tour of its wildflower meadows, identifying the insects and birds that he encounters along the way. He also visits the river habitat and the hedgerows on the site.
DARTMOOR’S RHOS PASTURE:
http://www.dartmoor.gov.uk/wildlife-and ... os-pasture
Length: 0’57
Also known as ‘wet meadow’ or ‘culm meadow’, Rhos pastures are marshy grasslands, in which purple moor grass and rushes are the dominant vegetation.
Dartmoor has 1,200 hectares of Rhos pastures and this one-minute film celebrates the spectacular array of plants and animals that thrive in this habitat. No narration or subtitles, just music and beautiful images.
WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE?
MEMORIES OF TRADITIONAL HAY MEADOWS:
Length: 11’16
A nostalgic and moving piece in which people recall their memories of hay meadows from a time when they were still species-rich. Produced by Cumbria Wildlife Trust, these personal stories are illustrated with still images of meadows and traditional farming techniques.
A FARMER’S STORY OF THE TRANSITION FROM HAY TO SILAGE:
Length: 10’57
In the 1940s, 50s & 60s, Cumbrian farmer Wilson Robinson worked with Britain’s largest chemical company to improve profitability of his farm in the high fells. In this film, Wilson recalls how the addition of chemical fertilizers and the switch to silage-making increased his profits significantly, and how his farm’s ‘success’ was used to encourage other farmers to follow suit. However, Wilson believes that the increased profits came at the expense of plant and animal diversity, including the loss of grey partridge and lapwing.
LANDSCAPE SCALE MEADOW CREATION
Length: 5’30
A Natural England farm advisor describes how environmental stewardship schemes have been used to create wildlife-rich habitats on arable land in the Kent Downs over the last 20 years. This is a story of meadow creation at a fairly large scale, connecting grasslands from more than 100 farms across the area.