Welcome to an area of outstanding natural beauty

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It’s so dry out there that lots of farmers have been making hay much earlier than normal. Before it’s all cut down our friends at Herefordshire Meadows have been out harvesting seed from meadows which are rich in wild flowers, such as here on the wonderfully diverse village green at Malvern Wells.

This precious seed will be stored until the autumn when it will be spread on areas of grass which are currently rather ‘boring’. This will boost the variety and abundance of flowers in the National Landscape in the future. As well as being great to look at those flowers will provide food and shelter for an array of insects which will help to pollinate many of our crops and feed lots of other wildlife, including summer migrants such as swifts and swallows. Then they will become winter food for our sheep and cattle.

It all starts with the plants! … See MoreSee Less

We’ve been out in the last couple of weeks looking at grasslands that we reseeded with wildflower and grass seed in the past and which are now being managed as meadows, left to grow until they are cut for hay later in the summer. Some of these sites were reseeded just last year but others have been meadows for 3 or 4 years now. We haven’t analysed all of the results yet but it’s already very clear that the wildflowers and grasses are spreading.

Meadows really are great places for nature. An estimated 97% of our lowland meadows have been lost in the past century so creating and restoring this habitat is crucial and rewarding work. We’re aiming to support landowners in restoring some 25 hectares of meadow this year. … See MoreSee Less