After getting lost once again we finally arrived at our destination about half an hour late. We got stuck in straight away. After we’d potted 10 to 15 plants we learnt a little more about why wildflower meadows are important. The wildflower meadow habitat is in decline across the country and many species of rare flora are disappearing with them. By planting these wildflowers we are creating new wildflower meadows in the coming years. This particular wildflower meadow was used for making hay.

There is a rough method to plug planting. We made rings of plants around a central post with plants roughly 60-100cm apart. The reason behind this was to make sure the plants could be easily pollinated by each other in the following years.
After an hour or so we stopped for tea and cake then got back to work. From the meadow there was an excellent view of Oxeholme, Kendal and beyond. We planted for a further hour and a half then packed up and headed back.

Isaac

About the authors: Sian and Isaac were Apprentice Conservation Officers with the Trust from September 2016 to spring 2018