A year in the life of our flourishing floodplains

It's late June and with the Floodplain Meadows Partnership and a passionate bunch of volunteers, we’re aiming to identify any species rich floodplain meadows in the Severn and Avon Vale.

But with the annual hay cut looming, it’s a race against time.

Some of the larger fields in the Severn and Avon Vale floodplain are still managed in the same way they were a thousand years ago. Historically these Lammas Meadows were managed as commons with hay strips allocated to parishioners.

Once the hay had been taken, local farmers would’ve put their animals on, and these large unfenced areas were then commonly grazed. They’re still managed in a similar way today, albeit with fewer farmers. As a result, they’re incredibly rich in wildflowers and grasses.

Great burnet (pictured) is a classic species of an old floodplain meadow. Volunteers are also looking for other key species like meadow foxtail grass as well as bird’s foot trefoil and knapweed.

You also find a very diverse range of grasses in floodplain meadows, sometimes more than fifteen different species. This is why these ancient meadows provide such excellent hay crops.

It’s time to collect seeds. As part of the project, we’re working with farmers to restore 20 hectares of species rich floodplain meadow and we’re doing this by collecting seed from botanically rich ‘donor’ sites and spreading them on our ‘restoration’ sites.

Here we are collecting green hay which includes ripe seed from flowers and grasses. You can see it being cut from one of our donor sites and loaded into a trailer. We then spread it on our restoration sites using a muck spreader.

We then use cattle to help us tread the seeds into the ground. The cattle also help by grazing on the grass, keeping levels low, which ensure the seeds have the best chance of establishing.

This August we used a different method to ‘brush harvest’ seed from Hucclecote Meadow in Gloucester. This meadow is specially protected due to the diversity of floodplain plants found at the site. The brush harvesting machine attaches to the back of a quad bike and as it drives over the meadow, the brushes pick up the seeds.

The brush harvested mix is then sieved to take out any larger bits of grass before being stored ready for use in the autumn.

It’s October and now that the weather has turned cooler and there’s more moisture in the soil, it’s time to sow the brush harvested seed into our meadow restoration sites.

By using both ‘green hay’ and ‘brush harvested’ seed we’re providing our meadows with as many different types of local seed as possible, in the hope they’ll become species rich hay meadows once more.

We’re collecting soil samples from the Vale and analysing them for carbon to show how much better these species rich floodplain meadows are at storing carbon, compared to other types of land use.

Our wildflower workshops gave individuals all the skills they need to successfully collect, sow, grow and plant out wildflowers in their local areas and gardens.

Our willow weaving workshops were a fantastic opportunity for participants to learn about our floodplain restoration work, while creating a sculpture from this common wetland tree.

Moths and dragonflies really benefit from sympathetic farming techniques that encourage wildflower rich meadows. Our event was a great way to engage people in the wonder of these wetland species.

Gloucester lies in the heart of the Severn and Avon Vale landscape, yet it’s fairly disconnected from its floodplain heritage.

We’re using art to reconnect residents with the amazing wildlife and landscapes on their doorstep.