97% of our wildflower-rich meadows have been lost nationally within the past 75 years. This sobering figure, which is likely closer to 99% in a Cheshire context, is one that resonates with not just conservationists but anybody that concerns themselves with the management of our countryside. A particularly concerning consequence of this, is an equally staggering decline in pollinating insects that rely on these herb rich grasslands as a source of nectar and pollen, and a refuge to complete their complex life cycles.
To address this, we established our pioneering Pollinating Cheshire scheme in 2016, which has been gaining pace ever since. This initiative works with landowners to source funding to create herb-rich hay meadow communities, from locally sourced seed. In 2020, a commission from CEC, enabled this work to be stepped up a gear, giving our Pollinating Cheshire initiative it’s greatest annual restoration target since its inception.
The first port of call was identifying landowners over the course of the winter months, during which we successfully identified six sites. Most of these were small holders, who were not reliant on the agricultural income attached to the land, alongside one organic beef farmer and a Parish Council. All sites were soil sampled to a depth of 7.5cm to ascertain their suitability for restoration, with all sites selected having a P-index of 2 or below.
The seed was sourced from a selection of different meadows, across Cheshire and Staffordshire. Crucially, we were careful to identify donor meadows that existed on soil conditions similar to that of the recipient sites, so as to ensure the species composition would be compatible.
All seed was harvested using our brush harvester and riddled manually to separate excessive chaff. Following harvesting, seed was dried out and stored for up to six weeks in well ventilated conditions. In September and October, this seed was sown onto the recipient meadows, which had been power harrowed to a depth of 10cm to create c.80% bare ground. Sowing was undertaken using a modified trailed seed spreader, and rolled within 24 hours.
