Since 1950, 97% of flower-rich lowland meadow has disappeared from the British countryside, lost to increased productivity on agricultural land as farming was industrialised post-World War II. Instead of relying on hay to feed stock over winter, farmers were encouraged to plough up meadows and sow rye grass, cut several times a year for silage, and producing the uniform green fields we see today.

Herbicides removed the variety of wild flowers and herbs which brightened the expanses of grass and supported hundreds of different insects. The few remaining pockets of traditionally managed meadow are rare gems of biodiversity, surviving as islands amid an encroaching sea of ‘improved’ silage fields. Lowland meadow is now recognised as a habitat of priority importance (HoPI) in the national government’s establishment of a Nature Recovery Network – a major commitment in the 25 year environment plan to restore and enhance the natural environment, and it is to be hoped that the aim of making more, better, more connected spaces for nature will encourage preservation, restoration and re-creation of flowering meadows. 

For all its budding nature, lowland meadow is essentially a man-made environment, though it mirrors the effect of herds of large wild grazing animals.  The success of the habitat depends on traditional management. Hay meadows were once ‘shut up’ at Candlemas (2nd February), excluding livestock so that the grasses and herbs could grow lush and flower. The hay would be cut around mid-July or later, depending on local conditions and suitable weather, the mown herbage dried on the field and then removed. This allowed seeds to fall from the drying plants before removal, but left no dead vegetation to decompose and enrich the soil. The flowers and fine grasses we find in traditional hay meadows cannot compete with a dense sward of vigorous grasses such as rye grass which benefit from a richer soil; on fertilized soils they are lost. Low levels of stock, usually cattle, were put back on the field to graze the aftermath on Lammas Day (1st August). Their hooves split the sod, offering an opportunity for seeds to germinate and their droppings added natural fertility through the winter. 

So what floral gems will I be hoping to find in my June rambles round the meadows?

I’m off to Melverley Meadows, our reserve in Ash, near Whitchurch, and I’m hoping the orchids will be doing well this year. Common spotted and heath spotted orchids thrive there, dainty pignut, clovers, yellow buttercups, bird’s  foot trefoil and meadow vetchling, bush vetch, betony, tormentil and those essential hemiparasites that sap the strength of the grasses, yellow rattle and eyebright.

32 species of grass have been recorded on the reserve, so I’ll be looking out for my favourites – sweet vernal grass, smelling of newly cut hay, crested dog’s-tail with its beautiful seedheads and soft meadow foxtail. In the damper flushes ragged robin raises its tattered pink flowers above marsh marigolds, gone over now but sporting fascinating jesters’ cap seed heads, bugle, marsh bedstraw and spearwort.

Next month there will be devil’s bit, knapweed, sneezewort and spiny restharrow, but for now I’ll just soak in the glory of those orchids, so dense it’s hard to put your foot down without treading on one, and their legion of compatriots. It’s like stepping back to my childhood and meeting an old friend. If I can tear my eyes from the vegetation, I might be lucky and spot the long-legged hare, a pair of grey partridges or an early-hunting barn owl as a bonus – nature, even on a domesticated scale, always holds a surprise. 

Other meadows to visit in Shropshire include Shropshire Wildlife Trust’s reserves Button Oak Meadow near Bewdley, Farfields Meadow at Wheathill and Ruewood in Wem. Shropshire’s coronation meadow, Hayton Meadow, Ludlow, is a small site, only 0.3 ha, but rich in wildflowers including betony, green-winged orchid and common spotted orchid. It provided the seeds and green hay for two other meadows at Lightmoor (Tramway Meadow) and Whitcliffe Common. Get out and discover your nearest botanical treasure trove! 

If you would like to know more about the species in this blog, browse our wildflower species explorer and grasses species explorer pages.

Here is also more information on Coronation Meadows.