Flowering Fields

Wildflower meadows are a beautiful feature of the British landscape and change continually with the seasons. Full of many types of grasses and flowers, they can be found buzzing with the activity of insects, birds and animals. They all have individual characteristics, attracting passing wildlife, as well as being admired by human visitors.

Meadows are areas of old agricultural land, which were used in the past to produce hay.  Wildflowers would be allowed to bloom and seed in the fields, ensuring that every year the countryside came alive with vibrant colours and scents.

Meadows were created when the first farmers cleared areas of forest, in around 3500 BC. They were now able to cultivate the grasses for hay and for grazing.  So farmers created our wildflower meadows.

Over the past 50 years market demands and government policy have driven farmers to use ever more intensive techniques. These include ploughing up meadows and pastures to be sown for arable crops, the disappearance of the farm horse, wide spread use of tractors and other heavy machinery, indoor rearing of animals, controlled grazing, the use of fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides and improved land-drainage techniques.

Locally, large amounts of traditional grassland habitats have been lost.  This has resulted in them being identified as a priority habitat in the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Biodiversity Action Plan. Once common plants have become very rare in Leicestershire and Rutland, such as the green winged orchid. If you want to help protect and conserve the remaining wildflower meadows in the counties, carry out a survey using the Flowering Fields survey form. The information you record will be stored at the Holly Hayes Environment and Heritage Resources Centre and used to plan future conservation work.