Green Meadow

A mild, wet winter meant that 2008 started with the meadow very green. It had been mowed late in 2007 (not quite as closely as previously, so that some dead foliage can still be seen above the green), but the wetness of the soil made it impracticable to plough strips into it for the benefit of plants that like disturbed soil.

Gravelly Soil

However, as it turned out there was plenty of disturbed soil anyway, thanks to the restructuring of the mound that supports the new seating. This major work has had three important effects on the meadow: it removed most of the hedgerow behind the old seating area, it created several areas of thin gravelly soil towards the front of the meadow, and it re-used a mixture of soil from various parts of the park, including the car-park and sheep-field.

The removal of the hedge has had relatively little effect on the biodiversity of the meadow as a whole, as most plants that were in the hedge were not unique to it. The thin gravelly areas have been very interesting in throwing up small, low-growing plants which tend to be overwhelmed in the more luxuriant areas, including some new species for the meadow list. The mound itself we expected to be of interest,

Charlock	Musk Thistle	Spear Thistle

not least because it represents disturbed soil and might have been expected to produce an abundance of the plants that flourish in such soil. The new plants for the meadow that have appeared as a result of these works are listed at the end of this month’s page. However, our hope that the mound might blaze with poppies were unfounded. It did produce a wealth of charlock, a wild cabbage that is common on freshly-disturbed soil, and spear and musk thistles, both of which also appeared in abundance on the meadow in 1995 when it was first planted.

A Dull & Damp Start

The year began dull and damp, and many people reported it as an unusually early year for many plants. In fact it was not especially early for garden flowers, but certainly at the start of the year trees seemed to be coming out early. By late March, however, the timing of flowering was back to normal, following some cold but sunny weather in February. The meadow lags a little behind many areas in terms of blossom.

Cherry Plum Blossom	Cowslips 9th April

It was on the whole a cool, wet and windy summer, with just a few short-lived warm spells in July and August: it was said to have been the cloudiest and wettest August for 100 years. The meadow thrived on the rain, and has rarely been so luxuriant in summer. Surprisingly, even the “Mediterranean” plants like marjoram seemed to like it. Another more worrying effect was that there were fewer butterflies this year. That has been remarked across the country and is undoubtedly an effect of the weather. Most butterflies only come out to feed on sunny days, and if it rains consistently they may starve.

Spindle Leaves & Berries

A little Indian summer in early October was a great pleasure, and was accompanied by some of the finest autumn colour for many years. The spindles in the hedges were brilliant scarlet, and the beeches rich copper. Most berry-bearing shrubs have really gone to town this year, and if it does turn out to be a cold winter there is plenty of food for wild birds. The cold weather of late October was not such a joy: (in Basingstoke, nearly two inches of snow fell overnight on 23/24 October). By the end of November, after some cool windy weather, it turned very cold again, and was definitely feeling like winter, not late autumn. The meadow remained very green, but almost nothing was in flower: the only flowering plant seen on 23 November was one head of yarrow.

Ashley is now talking about ploughing some patches in the meadow when it is cut before the end of the year. That may bring up some interesting flushes of different plants, especially poppies, producing a patchwork of chalk meadow plants and cornfield weeds. We look forward to seeing what happens.

New Plant Species for 2008

Ground Elder - Aegopodium podagraria

A hairless, aromatic perennial of the Carrot family (Umbelliferae), with a stout, hollow, grooved stem and compound leaves divided once or twice into roughly spear-shaped, toothed leaflets. The flowers are small and white, in dense, flat-topped heads (or umbels), up to 6cm across. Often well-known to gardeners as a nuisance, as it spreads rapidly by shallow-rooted brittle rhizomes, that regenerate easily and can grow up to 1m. It is also found in hedgerows, roadside verges and at the edges of woodland and flowers from June to August.

Meadow location – The Mound

Knotgrass - Polygonum aviculare

A low-growing, hairless annual, a member of the Dock family (Polygonaceae), sometimes erect, but often prostrate or sprawling, growing up to 1m or more, but usually much shorter. It has swollen knot-like joints along the stems, which give rise to its name, narrow, spear-shaped leaves and tiny pink flowers which grow from the angles of the leaves, all along the stem. It is a very common plant of disturbed, cultivated and waste ground, also found on seashores and flowers from June to October or November.

Meadow location – The Mound

Redshank (or Redleg) - Polygonum persicaria (or Persicaria maculosa)

A weedy, almost hairless, sprawling or erect annual, another member of the Dock family (Polygonaceae), growing up to 80cm, often with red stems, hence its name. It has spear-shaped leaves, often with black botches, and spikes of overlapping pink flowers growing from the angles of the leaves.

Meadow location – The Mound

 

Common Chickweed - Stellaria media

A very common, sprawling or prostrate annual from the Carnation family (Caryophyllaceae), Chickweed is a common and familiar garden weed. It has weak, straggling stems, 5-40cm long, pointed oval leaves and five white, deeply-notched petals, growing in branched clusters. It is found on cultivated land, waste ground, shingle and sea cliffs, flowering from February to November, sometimes all through mild winters.

Meadow location – The Mound

Germander Speedwell - Veronica chamaedrys

A hairy perennial of the Figwort family (Scrophulariaceae), with creeping, rooting, semi-erect stems growing from 10-30cm tall. It has opposite pairs of very short-stalked, toothed, oval to triangular leaves and loose, pyramidal clusters of deep blue flowers, each with a white centre, or “eye”. It is a common plant of hedge-banks, woodland edges and clearings, flowering from March or April to July.

Meadow location – The Mound and the grass in front of the seating area

Round-Leaved Fluellen - Kickxia spuria

This is a softly hairy annual of the Figwort family (Scrophulariaceae), with sprawling stems up to 50cm in length, oval to round leaves and flowers growing from the leaf axils. The flowers are yellow, with a purple upper lip and each has a long curved spur. It grows mainly on field margins, cultivated and arable soils and disturbed ground and flowers from July to October.

Meadow location – The Mound & the grass in front of the seating area

Great Mullein - Verbascum thapsus

A stout, upright, woolly biennial, a member of the Figwort family (Scrophulariaceae), growing up to 80-200cm tall. It has an oval basal rosette and long, alternate, pointed, stalkless leaves running down the plant stem. The flowers are pale yellow, five-lobed and 15-30mm across, growing in dense, usually unbranched spikes. It is a widespread plant, found on dry, sunny banks, roadsides, waste ground, scrub and woodland margins, flowering from June to August or September.

Meadow location - The Mound

Pineapple Weed or Pineapple Mayweed - Matricaria discoidea

An erect, stiffly-branched and bushy annual, 5-40cm tall, a member of the Daisy family (Compositae). It has compound leaves, 2-3 times divided into feathery segments that smell of pineapple when bruised. The flowers take the form of loose clusters of conical greenish-yellow heads with no ray florets, looking like a daisy with no petals. This plant grows widespread on waste land, footpaths and other trampled places, flowering from June to October.

Meadow location – The Mound

Groundsel - Senecio vulgaris

This is a very common weed, erect, branched and rather hairy, a member of the Daisy family (Compositae). It has lobed, irregular, pinnate leaves, which are hairy underneath and loose, branched clusters of yellow flowers that look like tiny shaving brushes. It grows in many different habitata, including gardens, waste land, wall tops, sand dunes and shingle beaches, flowering from February to December and sometimes all through mild winters.

Meadow Location – The Mound

Weld - Reseda luteola

An erect, leafy biennial, a member of the Mignonette family (Resedaceae), growing from 30-100cm or more. It has hollow stems, branched towards the top, and narrow, dark green, strap-shaped leaves, with wavy margins. The numerous flowers grow in long, narrow spikes, 20-30cm long and are pale greeninh-yellow. The plant is widespread in dry, open, stony or sandy ground, found in wasteland, dry banks, fallow fields and coastal paths, mainly on lime-rich soil. It flowers from June to September. (We found this species once in the main body of the meadow in 2005, but it disappeared after that and we did not have a photograph of it. We were very pleased to find it back again.

Meadow location – The Mound and the grass in front of the seating area

Horse Chestnut - Aesculus hippocastanum

A widespread and impressive tree of the Horse Chestnut family (Hippocastanaceae), growing up to 25-30m tall, with a broad, dense crown. It has dark grey-brown bark, large reddish-brown, sticky buds and palmate leaves, divided into 5-7 toothed leaflets. The flowers appear in May and June, growing in erect clusters and are white, with yellow spots or patches at the base which gradually turn pink or red. The fruits are the familiar conkers, glossy brown, encased in green, softly-prickly cases, ripening in September or October.

Meadow location – Patrick’s Wood – the copse to the left of the seating area

Wild Cabbage - Brassica oleracea

A robust, hairless perennial from the Cabbage family (Cruciferae), with a strong, woody stem and oblong, waxy, fleshy, grey-green leaves, lobed in their lower parts. It grows to a height of 1.25m and has long spikes of four-petalled flowers, each flower 25-35mm across. It is found on chalk and limestone soils, especially on sea cliffs, but also sometimes occurs having naturalised from garden escapes. This is the ancestor of our familiar cabbages and kales.

Meadow location – The Mound

Willowherb - Epilobium spp (not identified)

Willowherbs are members of the Willowherb family (Onagraceae) and have leaves in opposite pairs and four-petalled pink flowers. Some members of this family are hard to separate for identification as they are sometimes hybrids. We have not yet definitely identified the plant shown in the photograph, which may be a hybrid, as the leaves did not seem to match the flowers shown in our books. We will look out for it next year and see if we can make a positive identification!

Meadow location – The Mound