The sun is shining, blue skies stretch as far as the eye can see, and birds sing loudly as I take in the beautiful meadows at Allestree Park. Today is National Meadows Day, a day celebrating this incredible habitat that not only provides an essential resource for wildlife but also brings people joy. 

Wildflower meadows come to life in the spring and summer. The buzz of bumblebees can be heard as they fly from flower to flower collecting pollen on their hind legs and feasting on nectar. Butterflies can be seen flitting over the tall vegetation, birds of prey circle high above on the lookout for small mammals, and at night, the nocturnal insects come out while the bats hunt. Meadows are an important habitat that can support nearly 1,400 invertebrate species plus numerous others. I love a wildflower meadow but as meadow owners will tell you, they need the right conditions to thrive.

An indicator of good quality meadow habitat is a grassland that has more than 15 plant species per square metre or more than 30% cover of wildflowers and sedges. Furthermore, there are different types of species-rich grasslands. The type and therefore the plant community the species-rich grassland supports, varies depending on the location, soil pH and underlying geology. At Allestree Park, we are fortunate to have a few types of species-rich grasslands including neutral lowland meadows and lowland acidic grassland; a UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) priority habitat. 

Walking through a flower-rich meadow in summer filled with an abundance of wildflowers and wildlife is an incredible experience. But what species should you be looking out for at Allestree Park and elsewhere in Derbyshire and why do they use meadows?

One butterfly that you will see in abundance in a meadow, and at Allestree Park, is the Meadow Brown Butterfly (Maniola jurtina). Adults emerge in early June and as the name suggests, one of the habitats they frequently use are meadows. This is because they lay their eggs on a wide range of grasses, particularly finer grasses found in meadows such as bents (Agrostis spp.). 

Another species that you will see is a Common Carder Bumblebee (Bombus pascuorum). This hardy bumblebee is one of the eight common and widespread bumblebees found in the UK and can be found using a range of habitats (including your garden!). Queens tend to emerge in March searching for a suitable place to nest in long grass. This species has a long tongue so, they like to feed on clovers and vetches, plants often found in flower-rich meadows.

A plant species that naturally helps to restore species-rich grasslands is Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor). Yellow Rattle is termed the ‘meadow maker’ as this annual plant is hemi-parasitic on the roots of grasses and some legumes, inhibiting their growth, allowing more wildflowers to grow. At Allestree Park, you will find Yellow Rattle in some of the meadows and future plans are looking to help the spread of this essential plant to other parts of the site to establish further flower-rich grasslands. 

One species that has begun to germinate from the existing seedbank on the fairways at Allestree Park is Pignut (Conopodium majus). Pignut is a small umbellifer that attracts a range of insects due to its open flowerheads, allowing easier access to nectar and pollen. We’re really excited that Pignut has begun establishing at Allestree Park, it’s a promising sign for the future of the grasslands along the fairways. 

Along with the species that currently use the meadows at Allestree Park, we are hoping the meadows will help other species recover and thrive at the park whilst also creating an even better nature-rich wild space for people. One species in particular we are hoping will recover and flourish is the threatened Dingy Skipper Butterfly (Erynnis tages), a UK BAP priority species. Adults emerge in late May and require areas of bare ground for basking and lots of Bird’s-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), their caterpillars’ foodplant. Bird’s-foot Trefoil is a pollinator favourite due to the amount of nectar it produces and is also the foodplant for multiple moths and butterflies including the beautiful Six-spot Burnet Moth (Zygaena filipendulae). 

Although an abundance of wildlife is already using the meadows at Allestree Park, to ensure the meadows remain species-rich and abundant with life, natural processes such as grazing need to be maintained or reinstated. If grasslands are left without restoring natural processes, then nutrient levels will build up over time, causing a loss in species richness as rougher grasses and scrub can establish. Wildflowers typically prefer nutrient-poor soils so, the removal of nutrients either through the natural process of grazing or an alternative community led approach, where people mimic the actions of missing natural processes is needed for them to thrive.

At Allestree Park, the meadows are looked after by a mixture of cut and collect and conservation grazing with highland cattle to reinstate the natural process of herbivory. We know that people are keen to see more wildflowers at Allestree Park, so we are exploring ways in which more areas of the park can become species-rich grasslands, to create more space for nature and in turn have more people benefitting from nature. We need to find the best way to do this that does not emit carbon and delivers high quality and sustainable results.

Soon, we are going to harvest species-rich green hay and spread it on some species-poor grasslands at Allestree Park, and we are hoping people will come and help too. The Allestree Park rewilding project has a community rewilding focus, placing people at the heart of nature recovery so, we want to work with people to carry out any interventions. 

If you have felt inspired by this blog to spend some time in a meadow, join us on Wednesday 23^rd July, 10am-1pm, for a plant identification training session or volunteer to help monitor the meadows.