Why we should treasure hay meadows.

Join me on a visit to a hay meadow, a wonderful habitat for flowers, insects and more. We destroyed more than 97% of our hay meadows in the 20th Century, but they can be recreated, as in this example. Nature can recover, with a little help.

[@markosullivan6444]

I really enjoyed this, thank you. Overall Britain has lost 97% of its hay meadows but my local county has gone further. Cheshire has lost 99% of its hay meadows. My conversion of a tiny lawn to wildflower meadow will help ever so slightly.

[@haulwen0564]

A beautiful, relaxing, and interesting video. So much life in hay meadows, I certainly treasure them. I'm very lucky that just 200 yards from my house there are old hay meadows which are a designated Local Nature Reserve. It's like a golden jewel in the middle of housing estates. All the flowers you mentioned grow there, plus many more. It's a healing place for humans, and a retreat/home/life saver for our wildlife 💜

[@paulcharlwood702]

Been working on a 'summer meadow' in my back garden for about 15 years now, about 3m by 6m. It has been fun watching it evolve over the years. Loads of white and red clover, vetch, knapweed, cow-parsley, ox-eye-daisy and over the last 2 years yellow-rattle. Perhaps best of all, wild orchids, both common spotted and southern marsh. Numbers have grown from 1 flower spike that first year to over 30 this year. In another, naturally boggy area we have yellow flag iris and loads of self-heal and wound-wort. Great fun watching the bees, hoverflies and damsel flies butterflies and moths. Also the hedgehogs love the slugs, snails and worms in the long damp grass. Would highly recommend a patch of meadow in any garden.

[@WonderfulWorld316]

Hay meadows are amongst my favourite places as well, especially for looking for little creatures to photograph and film. I've not found many in the UK... now I know why.

[@barbaratremain6601]

Thanks Dave. Lovely. I create meadows ( small ) at every opportunity in my role as a garden designer. 🌹. Love them 😊

[@jemimarosebullock]

Yes, exactly this! We have the hay meadow nearby us, and it is brimming with wild flowers! It is stark contrast to the farmed fields nearby it though. Which are void of any of the beautiful weeds, flowers and wild herbs.

[@blue2mato312]

It’s a gorgeous video, thank you. I’m trying to make more mini meadows even if it means removing some heather/bilberries to increase biodiversity where I can. And I just made my first minipond this year. I would have a larger one, but I don’t own this alone and there are always objections.

[@blue2mato312]

Yes nature has a great capacity for rebounding if allowed to and/or helped to. Except when the area is plastered over with housing or roads.

[@barryunderwood2900]

As ever, Dave, thanks for posting these videos, I look forward them.

[@nickiramsay2421]

Thanks Dave, we have a few small meadows near me and I can just spend ages watching the insects in them. I’ll be surveying them for the Great Big Butterfly Hunt when the weather gets a bit better 🤞🏻

[@debbiesittard7653]

Thank you, Dave! I really enjoyed this.

[@peteralcorn6453]

Hi Dave. Thanks for sharing some of your knowledge and experience with us through your videos and books etc. I watched your video about pesticides etc that are in store bought plants and I would like to know how long these nasties remain in the plant or do they get used up/exstinguished over time ? Keep up the great info sharing with all of us that are watching, listening and reading. Thanks Peter (NZ)

[@blue2mato312]

Just lost the last one near our family’s old summer cottage in Norway. I was just worried since last year after talking to a farmer what would happen with it. And now it’s gone for housing. I had plans to go there this summer and try to record species 😢

[@milesjolly6173]

I’m sorry 😢 the same thing seems to be happening here in the U.K., more houses being built in the countryside to the point where it’s not really the countryside anymore, just an extension of the suburbs. What will happen when the countryside is all gone? We can’t keep building houses forever. I just hope our new government will prioritise nature.

[@blue2mato312]

@@milesjolly6173 I’m sorry too, this problem is even greater in the UK I believe 😢. But Norway does not have very much of this habitat in the southern parts where it’s warmer in the first place. Most of my country is mountains. I really hope the new government in the UK will prioritise nature as well as restore the NHS 🙏 I am bitterly disappointed in my current labour primeminister because of the destruction of nature he is allowing by the coalition party (essentially a farmers party). May that not happen to you! 🐝🌸🦋

[@Jonathan1997hk-ln4yk]

Hello from south of France. Great video thanks much appreciated.

[@colinjennings8778]

Love watching your videos, thanks for taking the time to make them !

[@davidpreston9472]

Hi Dave - lovely video thanks. We've recently bought a small smallholding and are wondering what to do with a decent patch of land - this is the sort of thing we were considering. What's your view on the best way to seed (clear the existing field, or just seed over the top? And it is best to recreate the one harvest per year to mimic hay-gathering conditions? Thanks.

[@stevesamoffgridsmallholdin5378]

Great video well presented👍

[@atticbrowser9698]

Thank you Dave.

[@blue2mato312]

I have never seen any of the red spotted moths even though we have both birdsfoot trefoil and meadow vetchling at the cottage. But most of the «garden» is woodland. It’s the edge of a wood.

[@davegoulson6831]

They prefer sunshine!

[@blue2mato312]

@@davegoulson6831 Thank you! I guess our little hill facing west used to have more sunshine, the trees are growing much more since climate change. I’m worried about our glow worms, I haven’t seen any this year after seeing very few the last three years (after a long hiatus when noone saw them)and the light pollution is increasing. I have a new neighbour with a light that could light up the M4. My late grandfather used to see many of them here.

[@anthonydavies6021]

It is scarcely believable yet undeniable that modern chemically-driven farming and land practices have destroyed most of our ancient hay meadows. Perhaps some of this is down to the drive to grow more food for ourselves during WWII, which also started the removal of thousands of miles of hedgerows, another traditional habitat that in a kinder and less brutally commercial world would be a treasured source of natural wonder. Both can boast multitudes of plant and animal species that have developed over centuries. It breaks my heart to see the continuing assault on our infinitely beautiful wild places, in the name of development and economic growth, the latter of which is driving us ever closer to global catastrophe when our remaining natural systems finally collapse. Then the Elon Musks of this world can fly off to some other planet in the mistaken belief that we don't really have to care for this one! Thank you Dave for reminding us of what we have nearly (but not quite) lost.

[@silvanamarceca170]

Hello Dave, thank you for this video. What do you think about Salad Burnet, Sainfoin, viper's -bugloss? I bought some seeds from a company that selling wildflowers seeds called Kent Wildflower seeds...did I buy the right ones?

[@paulted60]

What are the indicators for when should such a meadow is cut?

[@alexp893]

Everyone will have their own different view on this topic! If the goal is maximum floral diversity my view is to cut at the end of August or early September, once most wildflowers have set seed and faded. The annual hay cut destroys a habitat so it's best to leave a portion, or margins, uncut for animals to move to. If you cut later in the year you risk running into bad weather which makes cutting, drying and removing the hay difficult. Happy to read other views...