Interactive lesson

A meadow, step by step

Interactive lesson: read your meadow by its plants, lime and feed it, harrow it in spring, overseed bare patches and control autumn crocus without chemicals.

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The whole lesson as text

1. Read your meadow

The plants in a meadow tell you what it lacks, before any fertiliser or seed.

1 × 1 m squares — Walk your meadow in May, when everything is growing. Pick out a few 1 × 1 m squares in different places and write down what's growing.
Three groups of plants — A healthy meadow has 50–70 % good grasses, 15–30 % clovers and other legumes, and up to 20 % other herbs.
Acid and neglected — Moss and sheep's sorrel mean acid, poor soil. Bracken grows where the meadow is rarely cut, and brambles creep in from an edge that isn't cut right to the end.
Too much slurry, too much water — Docks and nettles mean too much nitrogen, masses of dandelions mean lots of slurry. Rushes, sedges and horsetail show wet, airless soil.

Why: A meadow with plenty of good grasses and clovers gives more hay and better hay. Grasses give bulk, clovers give protein, and other herbs give minerals and flavour.

Some old meadows are protected. Ploughing, draining or heavy reseeding can need consent (Natural England, NatureScot, DAFM; in the US check easements with NRCS). If in doubt, use only gentle methods.
If you find grasses hard to tell apart, a rough estimate is enough: grasses, clovers, other.

2. Soil and lime

A meadow doesn't need as much feeding as a garden, but it does need the right pH.

Soil test — Test every 4–5 years. Take samples from the top 7.5–10 cm (3–4 in), from 15–20 spots per field.
Aim for pH 6.0 — For a meadow the target is pH 6.0. Lucerne needs more, 6.5–7.5.
Lime in smaller doses — At most 150–250 g/m² (roughly 0.6–1 ton per acre) of ground limestone at a time, in late autumn or early spring. Repeat after 2–3 years if needed.
Stock wait for rain — Keep stock off until rain has washed the lime off the grass, roughly 2–3 weeks.

Why: On acid soil the clovers go first, and the protein in your hay goes with them. Lime stays on the surface, so give it in smaller doses.

Don't lime out of habit without a test: meadows on chalk and limestone (the Cotswolds, the Peak District, the Burren) don't need lime.
Hydrated lime and quicklime don't go on pasture.