A meadow is an essential part of the Finnish traditional landscape, the significance of which has not been fully realized. Meadows offer a diverse and rich habitat for flowers, insects, and birds alike. Many endangered butterfly species and pollinators vital to humans thrive in meadow landscapes. A meadow established in a built environment also supports the conditions for diverse nature.
Anyone can establish a meadow on their own land in a sunny spot where there is no activity during the summer. A meadow can fit even into a small space. Establishing a meadow on wasteland is a cultural act for the benefit of the traditional landscape, also allowing for pollinators to thrive in a small meadow corner established in your garden.
Establishing a meadow does not require extensive soil improvement work. A meadow is suitable for permeable, nutrient-poor, and sandy soil – both on flat ground or on a slope. There are different types of meadows depending on the moisture conditions and nutrients of the site. These factors determine what kind of seed mixture should be sown in the area. A seed mat can be used to establish a meadow, or a special seed mixture of meadow plants can be sown. Information on the suitability of meadow plants for different growing sites can be found, for example, from seed suppliers. Seeds can also be collected by yourself from your local environment.
Instructions:
- Choose the location of the meadow carefully. A meadow in your own yard or summer cottage should be established in the driest, sunniest, and least nutrient-rich spot in the yard.
- Start establishing the meadow by tilling the soil, for example, by turning it over with a spade. In this connection, it is advisable to remove as many roots of perennial weeds from the soil as possible. If the soil is nutritious and humus-rich, it is worth "impoverishing" it by mixing a few centimeters of sand into the topsoil.
- The seeds are sown in the ground at the end of July or in August. For large meadows and pastures, it is worth sowing low-growing grass as a base plant, such as common bent. This prevents weeds from taking over the area so quickly. Flowering plants thrive better if the seeds are sown separately in small patches where there are no grass seeds at all. To make sowing easier, the seeds can be mixed with, for example, sawdust.
- In dry weather, the seeds may need watering to germinate.
- Annual weeds are removed from the new meadow as needed. If there are a lot of weeds, the entire vegetation can be mowed down before the seeds mature and the plant debris raked away.
- In the coming years, most of the time can be spent admiring and observing the meadow. Maintenance consists of mowing once or twice in the summer and removing the mowing debris.
Instructions: Finnish Association for Nature Conservation
https://www.sll.fi/2019/05/31/perusta-pihaniitty/ (only in Finnish)
