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| mdws:meadows [2025/12/05 10:37] – created - external edit 127.0.0.1 | mdws:meadows [2025/12/17 04:30] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1 |
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| <caption> | <caption> |
| Flowers & grasses of unimproved pasture, from the top: devil's bit scabious; crested dogstail; green-winged orchid; quaking grass; pepper saxifrage; red fescue; ragged robin; sweet vernal grass; snake's head fritillary. | _Flowers & grasses of unimproved pasture, from the top: devil's bit scabious; crested dogstail; green-winged orchid; quaking grass; pepper saxifrage; red fescue; ragged robin; sweet vernal grass; snake's head fritillary._ |
| </caption> | </caption> |
| </figure> | </figure> |
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| <caption> | <caption> |
| Harrow being pulled behind a tractor - stimulates growth by allowing light and air into the grass shoots, and by spreading piles of muck. | _Harrow being pulled behind a tractor - stimulates growth by allowing light and air into the grass shoots, and by spreading piles of muck._ |
| </caption> | </caption> |
| </figure> | </figure> |
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| <caption> | <caption> |
| Improved grassland species: perennial ryegrass; red clover; cocksfoot; white clover; Timothy. | _Improved grassland species: perennial ryegrass; red clover; cocksfoot; white clover; Timothy._ |
| </caption> | </caption> |
| </figure> | </figure> |
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| <caption> | <caption> |
| Cattle on improved pasture; animals allowed to graze outdoors on grassland are healthier, and produce better meat than animals fed on grain and largely kept indoors. | _Cattle on improved pasture; animals allowed to graze outdoors on grassland are healthier, and produce better meat than animals fed on grain and largely kept indoors._ |
| </caption> | </caption> |
| </figure> | </figure> |
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| <caption> | <caption> |
| Three types of unimproved grassland: lowland hay meadow with southern marsh orchids; cattle grazing on springline mire in the Blackdown Hills; calcareous (chalk) grassland. | _Three types of unimproved grassland: lowland hay meadow with southern marsh orchids; cattle grazing on springline mire in the Blackdown Hills; calcareous (chalk) grassland._ |
| </caption> | </caption> |
| </figure> | </figure> |
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| <caption> | <caption> |
| Haymaking with tractor and by hand. | _Haymaking with tractor and by hand._ |
| </caption> | </caption> |
| </figure> | </figure> |
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| <caption> | <caption> |
| Fine-leaved grasses of unimproved pasture provide food for the larvae of butterflies, such as (from the top) ringlet; hedge brown; marbled white; meadow brown. | _Fine-leaved grasses of unimproved pasture provide food for the larvae of butterflies, such as (from the top) ringlet; hedge brown; marbled white; meadow brown._ |
| </caption> | </caption> |
| </figure> | </figure> |
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| <caption> | <caption> |
| There are vast areas of natural grassland, like this African savanna, that support huge numbers of grazing animals. | _There are vast areas of natural grassland, like this African savanna, that support huge numbers of grazing animals._ |
| </caption> | </caption> |
| </figure> | </figure> |
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| <caption> | <caption> |
| Plants you don't want in your pasture: nettles; spear thistle; dock; ragwort. | _Plants you don't want in your pasture: nettles; spear thistle; dock; ragwort._ |
| </caption> | </caption> |
| </figure> | </figure> |
| ## Further resources | ## Further resources |
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| | - [Accidental Smallholder](https://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/smallholding/grassland-management/) - grassland management |
| | - [British Grassland Society](https://britishgrassland.com/) |
| | - [Floodplain Meadows Partnership](https://www.floodplainmeadows.org.uk/) |
| | - [Grassland Research Platform](https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/ibers/about-ibers/what-we-do/grassland-research-platform/) |
| | - [Grasslands Trust](https://www.thegrasslandstrust.org/) |
| | - [Meadows](http://www.countrysideinfo.co.uk/meadows/index.htm) |
| | - [Pasture for Life](https://pastureforlife.org/) |
| | - [Wildlife Trust](https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/habitats/grassland) - info on grassland |
| | - [RHS](https://www.rhs.org.uk/lawns/creating-wildflower-meadows) - creating wildflower meadows |
| | - [FAO](https://www.fao.org/4/x7660e/x7660e06.htm) - haymaking |
| | - [Hobby Farms](https://www.hobbyfarms.com/making-your-own-hay-3/) - making your own hay |
| | - [British Wild Flowers](http://www.british-wild-flowers.co.uk/index%20grasses.htm) - grasses, sedges, rushes & ferns |
| | - [Kew](https://www.kew.org/data/grasses-db.html) - grass species database |
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| ## Specialist(s) | |
| | ## Specialist curators of this topic |
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