Page 7 - Bumblebee Conservation Trust Buzzword magazine winter 2020

Yellow rattle - the ‘Meadow maker’ In 2019, I was approached by a local
community group in Newington Kent, to
give advice on how to restore a community
field into a wildflower meadow. The first
Dr Nikki Gammans, Short-haired stage was to complete a wildflower survey
bumblebee Project Manager, gives her of what was already there. The grass was
very dense and suppressing any potential
advice on using yellow rattle to create a wildflower growth. We decided it would be
wildflower meadow good to naturally reduce the fertility of the area
and grass coverage by sowing yellow rattle
For anyone wanting to create a meadow, seeds in autumn and plug planting young
no matter how big or small, yellow rattle plants this spring. The local community also
is an essential component. It can speed wanted to create a scrape (seasonal pond)
up the process of creating a flower rich in the centre of the field which would attract
meadow by 50%. This is why it is often wildfowl and also water loving plants. We
nicknamed the ‘Meadow maker’. Yellow donated bumblebee favourites, water mint
Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor) anytime between August to December. regeneration of the seed bank to continue.
rattle seeds need frost to break their
and purple loosestrife. This autumn we will be
dormancy, therefore they can be planted
sowing more yellow rattle and allowing natural
Natural regeneration means spending less
As with all wildflower seeds they need
bare ground to be able to germinate.
money (on seeds) and allowing flowers
suitable to that habitat to come through.
First, create an area of bare ground
by forking, raking, hoeing or using a
Photos top: Volunteer Jillian Eldridge surveying
mattock/pickaxe (or you can lay black
tarpaulin down for 2-3 months before you
yellow rattle coming through
want to sow) to create a fine soil tilth.
This area should be free of grass and other so-called weeds such as thistles. the ground; middle: preparing the ground; bottom:
Sprinkle the soil surface with your yellow rattle seeds and then water. Do not
bury the seeds under soil as they need to be on the surface to germinate. I
recommend doubling the amount of seed sown than is advised. Clump the
seeds together (do not scatter them far apart from each other) as this greatly
increases the chance of establishment. For plug plants, plant out in spring.
Yellow rattle will set seed around mid-July.
For an area that has been previously heavily fertilized you may want to only
add yellow rattle to help reduce grass which thrives in fertile soil and then, in
the following years, add in other wildflower seeds or allow natural regeneration.
Reducing fertility is a key step because otherwise quick-growing grasses take
over. Yellow rattle roots steal water and nutrients from grasses and can reduce
them by up to 60%. For management do not cut the area where you have sown
yellow rattle seeds after February as this is when the yellow rattle will first start to
grow and if cut it will not regrow (it is an annual). Yellow rattle plants form large
seedpods which rattle in the wind when they are mature, hence its name. These
can be easily collected, stored in a paper bag and then sown in a different area.
Not only is yellow rattle ideal for kick starting a wildflower meadow but it is also
excellent forage for bumblebees and other insect pollinators.
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