Marden Meadow is Kent’s Coronation Meadow, part of a wider project involving the Wildlife Trusts, Plantlife and the Rare Breeds Survival Trust to create and restore meadows as well as raising awareness of the scale of habitat loss we have had in recent decades. More information on the project can be found here .

Species rich grassland and meadows have declined by around 97 % since the 40’s and 50‘s. That leaves us with only around 3% remaining! A dramatic figure that is used regularly, what this translates to on the ground is a few, (usually small) sites that have been spared agricultural improvement and are usually difficult to manage, spread out and not connected or linked up.
All meadows or grasslands need active management, hay cutting or grazing or a combination of both to prevent the inevitable encroachment of scrub and eventual succession into woodland.

Part of my recent work on meadow restoration has involved working with the National Trust staff at Sissinghurst Castle Gardens.

The preparation was done by the garden team and volunteers. Cutting the area and taking away the hay (part of which was done the traditional way with Sythes!) Next came preparing the seed bed, scarifying the area to create bare ground to receive the Marden seeds. Lastly the green hay.