Wildflowers performed badly in 2025 and 2026 despite following all advice where possible. So from 2027 we will split the wildflower area into a grass meadow near the entrance where most of the insect hotels are, the rest of the area will be mown as a lawn with an uncut patch on the slope where wildflowers bloomed, in case they return. 

Advice we followed included having yellow rattle in the seed mix which controls grass growth, watering the meadow in 2026, creating a new area with seeds sown into bare soil, cutting the meadow as advised, leaving flower seeds to fall, clearing cuttings to avoid soil enrichment, removing weeds, modified the harrow to improve it and harrowed soil before sowing and again to disturb seeds to encourage germination, rolled seeds for good soil contact, and re-seeded every season twice a year.

This work is not justified for the poor results. We made a chart showing when sections of the meadow were seeded, the only significant flowering was on the sloping bank. Poor flowering means less seeds for the following year, so the problem gets worse, which confirmed our decision to leave it as a grass meadow and lawn. Thistles and teasels should continue to grow in the grass meadow which look good and attract birds.

The main reason wildflowers fail after a few years is because grasses take over and out-compete the flowers, this is why our maintenance plan was adhered to, but we ran out of cornfield annual seeds last year and had to reseed with the original flower and grass mix in one area, which will have increased grasses in 2026 in one place, but this does not explain the poor results of 2025. Both seasons were extremely dry but we watered in 2026, although it made very little difference.

The wildflower meadow project was created so we could apply for a grant to buy a ride-on mower which we needed to cut our large areas of grass. The mower is still in regular use cutting all the grass on site, so we achieved our aim and there will be slightly more grass to cut with the new lawn. There are other benefits of the project:-

The new shed was part of the project, this replaced an old shipping container to give better views of the site. The shed freed up storage space in the visitor centre allowing us to display more finds and exhibits including things found when making the meadow.

The area was originally full of weeds and soil heaps, so the landscaping has created an attractive outdoor space. The grant included preservation of adjacent areas, so we cleared the trench and tunnels of debris and covered a brick floor with soil to preserve it. We bought insect hotels which are still used by bees and other insects and we made our own from re-used materials. Our picnic bench can be used on the new lawn.

The only maintenance a grass meadow needs is weeding, cutting paths, cutting down in Autumn and clearing cuttings. The lawn will just need mowing with the rest of the grass. This is much less work than a wildflower meadow which involves cutting a lot more often, also harrowing, sowing and rolling which all need doing twice a year, flower seeds need to be disturbed to encourage germination, as well as watering.

The towed accessories will not get as much use, but will be needed when covering areas of the site with soil and grass for preservation. The roller, harrow and spreader will be needed for this as well as the mower trailer for carrying sacks of grass seed. The trailer gets plenty of use at work parties and the collector is still needed to clear grass cuttings before open days and to clear cuttings from the grass meadow.

So although the meadow will no longer flower, there are still advantages of the grant we will benefit from, particularly our mower and shed. Poppies and other wildflowers always come up in several places and we plant cornflowers in our gardens, so we will still have wildflowers on site, and if any return to the meadow we will keep them.

Graham Bartlett

Project Co-ordinator

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