Wildflower planting

In the first ten years that the Trust has managed the meadow, the range of wildflowers has been disappointing. They have to compete with the very strong growth of grasses.

Cowslips and fritillaries have been planted, and some have taken root.

Enhancing plant biodiversity and hedge restoration

August 2004 - June 2005

In 2004 Dr John Metcalfe started an innovative four year project aimed at enhancing plant biodiversity on the meadow and restoring a hedge.

The project is likely to cost over £7,000 and the cost is being fully met by a grant from the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme, via the Trust for Oxfordshire's Environment.

The first move on 21 August 2004 was to cut the grass as low as possible in four strips, using a 'high-grass mulcher deck and remove the grass cuttings.

The ground was scarified to expose bare earth and Yellow Rattle sown, which acts as a parasite on the grass to weaken its growth. Different ways of doing this were tried to see which works best. 

In the autumn of 2005 seeds of a wide range of wildflowers were sown. These were grown locally, not imported. Progress has been monitored carefully by regular counts. 

In November 2004 an area was prepared for the restoration of a hedge, and in March 2005 the hedge was planted.

Click here to review pictures of progress to March 2005.

July 2005 - June 2006

In August 2005 and June 2006 the hedge was hand weeded by volunteers, thistles being the biggest problem.  In May 2006 approximately 50 dead hedge plants were replaced.

In October 2005 the 4 yellow rattle plots were closely mown as in the previous year and loose cuttings removed.  The end result was a lawn-length turf without loose material.  Yellow rattle was sown on all plots and wild flower mix on the easterly one-third of all plots.

In March / April 2006 it was found that the yellow rattle had germinated well and in June 2006 was counted.

If successful, this trial will be valuable for application to other parts of the meadow and to other sites.

July 2006 - February 2007

In September 2006 the 4 plots were mown, leaving one as a control.  The grass in the buffer plots was clearly more vigorous, taller.  There was a noticeable amount of moss in all the mown plots, and some in buffer plots, but you had to poke about to find it at the base of the grass.  Ground treatment as before and yellow rattle seed sowed.

Rampant weed growth pulled off the hedge plants, sprayed with weedkiller.

Sowed 50g of wild flower seed on bottom one-third (nearest footpath) of each plot.

The hedge is well established albeit with some gaps due to dry weather and further plants will be required.

April 2008

Please see detailed report prepared by Dr John Metcalfe