A few years ago, our treasurer, Judith, was very excited to report that she had found a meadow in Adel Woods which was full of common spotted orchids. None of us knew about it – even though we had been working in the woods for about five years by that time!
Since then FOAW, Steve Joul and various corporate groups have done a lot of work on the meadow which was in danger of disappearing under trees, and himalayan balsam. This is what the meadow looked like in July 2016:
In September 2018, Steve and one of his volunteers mowed the meadow and I think you will agree that it looked somewhat different!
That work has paid off as I think that you will agree from the following pictures:
Friends of Adel Woods 
This quality of meadow, small though it is, is a rare sight nowadays and very precious. 97% of these flower-rich meadows have vanished in the last 60 years.
Cutting the meadow for hay makes the height of the plants equal and prevents taller herbs, grasses and trees from dominating and shading out the smaller grasses and flowers.
In addition, nutrients are removed with the cuttings and this also restricts the growth of competitive species. In this way the variety of plant life, and therefore animal life is enhanced.
Half of the original meadow remains, the rest having turned to woodland after hay cutting by the farmer ceased.
Farmers now grow special varieties of grass and apply herbicides to remove the flowers which are no longer valued.
Fertilisers are also applied in order to improve the yield, which may include three cuts per year.
The cut grass is baled into plastic wrappers which exclude oxygen. The grass is therefore pickled to produce silage instead of hay.
Animals are now fed on the silage instead of hay during winter when grass is not growing.
There were 2690 orchids present in the meadow on 16 July 2016. It took two hours to count them.
Pingback: Wednesday, 2nd September 2020: two men went to mow…. | Friends of Adel Woods
Pingback: Sunday, 13th December 2020: Steve Joul, two Friends, three women and one dog went to widen a meadow! | Friends of Adel Woods
Pingback: 10 July 2021: The Orchid Meadow | Friends of Adel Woods
Pingback: Thursday, 27th May 2021: Annual General Meeting | Friends of Adel Woods