HAY MEADOWS
Unimproved flower rich grasslands are now very rare. Between
1930 and 1984 semi-natural lowland grassland decreased by an estimated 97%
in England and Wales and in the lowlands of Montgomeryshire more than 99%
of grasslands have been improved. The remaining fragments of unimproved grassland
hold some of Montgomeryshire's rarest plants, including green-winged orchid,
pepper-saxifrage, spreading bellflower and whorled caraway. In Montgomeryshire
fewer than 40 meadows have escaped undamaged. Unimproved grasslands are managed
mainly as traditional hay meadows or pastures. They hold a wide range of flowering
plants and were once a common part of the Montgomeryshire landscape. Wet species-rich
grassland and rush pastures hold some of Montgomeryshire's rarest and most
attractive plants.
Extensive use of fertiliser, reseeding, and the switch to silage
production have had a dramatic effect on pastures along with unsustainable
heavy levels of grazing. The "Sheep at June" census in Wales has shown an
increase from 6,000,000 sheep in the early 1970s to 10,000,000 in 1998.
We have opted to convert areas of improved grassland to semi-improved
haymeadow as part of our Tir Gofal grassland restoration options. This involves
the following management prescriptions: