Making A 1/2 Acre Wildflower Meadow - Start To Finish & Revisiting 2 Years Later
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- Опубликовано: 14 авг 2022
- In this video I make a Wildflower Meadow on a large scale and revisit the site when it's in full flower.
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So I own a construction company in the US. Very small company, but this really would be a job I would enjoy. Combines a lot of my favorite things.
Excellent video, my dream is to do similar to this, purchase acres of land, create meadow, forest and ponds. Hopefully I can raise enough to get started soon. Love the videos, very inspiring. 🌱🌲🌳
Wow joel what an amazing meadow you created definitely worth a watch this to anyone reading this message 🦋💚🐸💚🐝🌼🌻
Thank you 😊
Stunning, that wild carrot in the breeze, well that was just lovely. Over here we have queen ann's lace, looks just like that wild carrot, it grows wild on the side of the rd. It seeded itself in my front yard by the rd, I left it. Just mowed it today, some 2 - 3 months after I let it go. I want make that swoop in the yard a meadow by the roadside.
Hey Joel. Great job with the video and process for a large allotment which will give me a good idea for our project. The local guys are starting the hard scaping around the house for stone planters, paths and grading next week. Hopefully I ll get some footage through my security cameras. They will be planting trees in early October so I should be there for that🤞. Great video as always and very informative 👍 have a great week 😀
Hi Joel, this is truly wonderful to look at, one wouldn’t guess the amount of work it takes to create.
Best wishes.
Hey Nadine! So good to hear from you - apologies for my lack of contact, hopefully the work will become less frantic as we reach Autumn and I will be able to keep up with emails and comments here - I am so glad you enjoyed this, it took a long while to get the footage together and edit but I hoped that it would show how preparation is key to the success of any meadow with longevity and how they can continue to improve. I hope you are well - I am hoping to continue editing the France visit soon, where has this year gone? Best wishes, as always - Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton I for one am looking forward to autumn and some rain! The garden is fried but there’s always next year!
Wow Wow and more Wow. The meadow is gorgeous. It reminds me of my childhood, seeing loads of meadows.
absolutely fantastic i have a 4 acre meadow with an acre of wetland and this is just what id like to do but would also like to put a 1/4 acre wild life pond in too in the hope i can create a place for the local children and adults to come and enjoy and hopefully enjoy and learn about the natural wildlife . cant wait to get started once I've organised everything. really enjoy your videos so inspiring and lots of wonderful information. thank you so much.
That is a huge success! I was surprised at how deep you found builder rubble, it looks like the area has been used as a dumping ground for years, I do like the use of large banks, that must provide a localised shelter from the wind in Norfolk and create micro climates, watching all that top soil being bladed up my thoughts were that we could use that here, as we have less than 100 mm of soil over solid limestone, which dries out very quickly in high temperatures, and becomes waterlogged in the wet! this meadow will now provide good habitat for many species, and it is good to see someone being keen enough to convert this area into such a wonderful environment! Stay safe ! Chris B.
Great work, Joel. I'd love to see another follow-up visit in a couple of years to see how the species mixture develops, whether the grasses become more dominant on the banks, and also hear a bit more about how it is managed.
Brilliant! Amazing transformation Joel! You had to be patient over time to complete this video! Really enjoyed it, well worth it for the end result!
Thank you Mark, I am sure you can appreciate how much "pain" went into going through all the footage and clips to pare this down to 56 minutes. Only about another 82 videos to edit/finish and upload now! Hope you're doing well, sorry I've not kept in touch but it's been non-stop. Best wishes, as always - Joel
I don’t know how you do it Joel! Thank you for the inspiration! All good here. Just keep doing what you do! Keeps me going. Cheers
@@MarkyBigSmoke I don't know how I do it either! It will catch up with me one day I'm sure ;) I really must come and see you soon, still working out schedules but if I'm your way I'll definitely drop you a line - I so want to do a video with you of your wonderful patch and that pond! :) Take good care, and thanks again - Joel
Those drone shots looks amazing, it gives you a better picture of how big the place really is. In that shot where you hand raked the mounts, you almost looked like an ent🐜😄 To be honest I felled a bit sick while watching the time laps of the excavator moving to the sides after each dig🤢 The results of the meadow is stunning, just as the surrounding scenery. My own little patch of wildflower meadow is coming along nicely. The musk mallow is looking gorgeous and bumblebees love it. I'm curious how it will look next year, when the perennial flowers have developed 🌸🌿🐛🦋🐝
A lot of hard work but the results speak for themselves. I hope it’s soon teaming with butterflies. It’s the kind of place I’d love to explore. Regards Keith
Hey Keith, yep according to the clients this has been abundant with butterflies and insects this summer, wish I'd had time to go back earlier in the year but time just wouldn't allow - just grateful I got to see it a few weeks ago, I'm very proud of this one :) Best wishes and thank you - Joel
You have some serious digger and dozer driving skills haha
Thank you :) It's taken me a few years but I'm not on them every day but I really do enjoy this work, they make such a difference time and effort-wise Lesley :) Best wishes, Joel
Looks amazing! Would love to see a video of what butterflies and bees and such can be found there now!
Blimey Joel you certainly work your socks off! That was fascinating to watch, such an incredible amount of work but what a reward! Your customer must be more than delighted. An absolute haven developed there. Really, hats off to you, another precious site for wildlife. Are you totalling up how many acres you’ve developed? It must be many large and small combined. I loved seeing the development and how it’s survived this awful drought and heat. Fantastic.👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Very nice, Joel! Beautiful meadow.
I'm so pleased with it Keith, especially after the touch-and-go with the flooding issues, it was a joy to see it again - best wishes, Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton I was thinking to myself while watching you create the berms “I wonder how that will drain?” Thankfully, Mother Nature has something for every condition.
Thank you for all your work regarding the conservation of nature! It really gives me hope in the horizon. Patience is necessary to achieve astonishing results, following your tips and guides I always try to help wildlife! Thanks again, and I look forward to seeing your new videos.
Hi Alberto, thank you SO much for taking the time to leave such a positive and encouraging comment, it makes a huge difference to me and I am so glad that the channel is helpful to you - we have a wonderful community here and I am pleased that you are a part of that now :) Many many more videos to edit and finish - Best wishes, Joel
Of course, you must always carry on doing this, you are making a strong, positive impact! I have been watching your videos for a few moths and I am addicted to them! I’d be delighted to meet you when I travel to the UK someday!
@@albertogarciasewjee4965 That would be wonderful Alberto, really it would - send an email to me at hazelwoodlandscapes@hotmail.com so we can keep in touch - you never know, I may travel to your country one day soon too :) Take good care, and thank you again for your support and encouragement - best wishes, Joel
Lovely to see how it turned out Joel 👌🏻👏🏻
It was so good to be back there George, about 2 weeks ago when I managed to break away from another job in Norfolk to get over there and film before the sun went down. The couple here are such wonderful people and have worked so hard in restoring not only the mill but the grounds too and what a place of respite it is :) Hope you are doing well - best wishes as always, Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton They definitely are a wonderful couple for allowing you to do so much good for nature. Their place is stunning with views to die for.
All good thank you Joel
😊
@@george-1961 I wish I could work there every day! :)
What a beautiful place ❤️
I'm really proud of this one Lynn, proud of all the meadows but it was touch and go with the water settling - however it turned out it was a blessing to be able to install a wet meadow area too :) The clients are also such brilliant people to work for and they've made so many improvements to that mill and the surroundings over the years - best wishes, Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton you should be proud.....it’s amazing!!! 👌
Hi Joel that is one lovely meadow made there. The whole property looks a haven for all forms of wildlife and the garden then have running next to it also looks good. Definitely a garden I would love to work in.
What an impressive transformation. The meadow looks lush and established in such a short span of time and the aerial shots....💪👍
What an amazing transformation, great job mate 👍 Those are some proper big boys toys for some proper landscaping!
Wow that looks amazing! Good work Joel, thank you for sharing.
Love what you are doing, I've about 200 plug plants this year for my lawn they seem to be coming on quite well. I would like to do a course on this and learn a bit more on this topic.
That's fantastic, so glad that you are "converting" your lawn, you'll certainly be rewarded next year :) I am certainly thinking about online courses for the winter months when I'm at home more - this time of year we make the most of the long days and good weather to create more and more habitat, whether in gardens or larger acre sites. Have a great weekend, best wishes - Joel
Looks absolutely amazing!
Thank you Sam 😊👍
Wow what a transformation Joel & to think it will get better in years to come! I must get some wild carrot off your website what a lovely flower. A teasel I got from you is 15 foot high which is a record for me. I really enjoyed watching how you create these beautiful meadows Joel & as always keep up the great work mate!
Thank you Stephen - appreciated :) So glad the Teasel is doing well, and it really IS doing well! Yes, I'd recommend the wild carrot, when they have finished flowering they then form baskets and they're really structurally beautiful - also, when you see them flower look for the one tiny cerise-coloured flower in the middle, it's one tiny one and only one in each flower head :) Thanks for your consistent support and encouragement, it really does make a difference - best wishes, Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton Thanks for the info Joel I will certainly have a good look at them when they flower 👍
Wow! Hey Joel so great to watch it like that and see it from start to finish. It reminded me so much of my childhood [a very long time ago!] when a lot of fields looked like that, sad that so much wild land has been built on but such a positive that so many people are creating them again. As you said even a small area brings so much wildlife into a garden. I can attest to that. The wish list is ever longer now, half an acre, a river, woodland, a digger..... Best video yet even tho the hair was a bit startling haha! Found hedgehog poo by the pond this morning, you'd think I'd found treasure I was so happy. Take care and best wishes.
Your wish-list sounds as long as mine! They're such a great couple and really are so thoughtful about what they do on that property, it was pretty much a wreck when they got there and they've made so many positive changes, a pleasure to work for them. Yes, the hair! You should have seen MY face when I was checking footage and saw how it looked in March, I also looked like I'd not slept since I did the prep works! ha! Congratulations on the hedge-hog poo! I remember my partner sending me photos of some "ash from a bonfire, looks like charcoal?!" and the joy I had in telling her that it was Elephant Hawkmoth droppings... So glad you enjoyed this, there are so many videos to edit/finish and upload but as the weather changes and I find myself at home more there will be opportunity to finish and upload a few a week again - can't wait to share everything with all of you :) Best wishes, Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton We will look forward to them all. And thanks to Rob it was great seeing the meadow from above.
Amazing the meadow looks like it’s been there for years, the hard work really paid off 🐝
Perfect timing as we start next month. I have strimmed the paddock and awaiting the farmer to strip the soil off.
Hi Ken - sorry for the delay - glad this was helpful and brilliant re starting soon, I bet you can't wait! Keep in touch and let me know how you get on. Up in Derbyshire on another large project at the moment so not much time to keep up with the comments, apologies for that - best wishes, Joel
What a beautiful meadow, so brilliant to watch the process. I have a 50m2 section of my garden that I cleared last year to create a meadow and the non stop rain through the Autumn meant that I have had to wait to sow until now. There is some greening around the edges and a few weeds have managed to start poking back up, mainly grass and wild rapeseed. It looks a lot like this one did before you sowed. I would have loved to have seen what you did at that point. Did you sow over the green, cut it back up, did you rake it again or how did you deal with those areas? Thank you again for your videos. If I was able to create anything close to this it would be a dream!
A quick p.s the music was a great choice!
Thank you :) I was wondering if it was a little "heavy" but it seemed to suit the machinery at least - the beginning and end definitely needed a more gentle approach - Joel
Excellent stuff. Congratulations to both the owners and yourself, for having the foresight and dedication for such a project.
Hello there! So sorry for the delay in responding to you, I'm trying to finish a huge project in Derbyshire and other bits before leaving the country again in less than 3 weeks, so have had not much time to keep up with everyone. But thank you, please don't think I was ignoring you, I really do appreciate your support - best wishes, Joel
Enjoyed your video. ❤️ the 🦢. You’re a 👍🏻 inspiration with your wildlife videos. So relaxing 😌
Well done Joel
Impressive!!
Thank you Simon - appreciated :) Best wishes, Joel
At 25:06 that looked like a grave stone that you had dug up at first but then I guess it wasn't. By the way, have you ever dug up anything gruesome or surprising on any of your jobs?
That was a bit of old concrete base from those old barns/buildings that had existed before :) Nothing gruesome found yet, but there's time. Mind you, at around 41 minutes in I look like I've dug myself up! haha - best wishes, Joel
Just marvellous.
Great work, Joel.
When do you plan to cut it back?
What will you do with what is cut?
I was thinking the same!
Massive Wow Joel. Fantastic work. Must have felt so good revisiting it and seeing how much it had grown and developed into an amazing spectacle and habitat 😊👍
Just wonderful !…. No other words are necessary….
amazing work, always love seeing what you've been up too
Thank you Rebecca - so sorry for the delay in acknowledging you, I've been up in Derbyshire for 2 weeks and 2 weeks more to go, working on a huge project. This has meant I'm having to catch up with everyone when I can grab 5 minutes - but thank you again for your support - it does make a difference :) Best wishes - Joel
It’s very rewarding
SO Cool!!! ❤️
superb!
And another question, you say in your video that grasses are used for butterflies to feed on and overwinter in, but meadows are cut short in autumn, so how does that work then for those butterflies ?
Wow again... just finished to the end. I think they need a wildlife pond in that wet area? ;-) Does the soil return to fertility eventually with all the falling vegetation? and will that make the wildflowers not grow again?
Hey Paula - finally catching up with everyone! They do have a lovely river running through the property and a lot of "ditches" but they are indeed seriously considering a large pond, and I'm of course encouraging this! There isn't much leaf litter from the surrounding trees to cause too much detriment, plus with the annual "cut and collect" hay cut all the year's growth is removed annually to ensure minimum nutrients go back into the soil - hope that makes sense :) Best wishes, Joel
Hey Joel, this video is great, thank you for putting it together, it's great being able to see the work that has gone in and 2 yrs on what it looks like.
Could you please tell me, does the ground prep need to be done and left for a period of time before sowing the area?
Many thanks
Hi Lizzy, once the site is prepared for seeding, there is no need to delay UNLESS the ground is still fertile, in which case you can let any "weed species" germinate before rotovating a second time and then seeding after that - I hope this helps, I'm always available if you need more advice at hazelwoodlandscapes@hotmail.com - feel free to drop me a line :) Best wishes, Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton Hi Joel, Thanks for getting back to me and the kind offer of further advice. Where I am, the soil fertility is generally quite high, so I'm interested to try this method of scraping back to the poorer soil layer to help establish more permanent wildflower meadows, on current amenity grasslands. A better alternative to glyphosate spraying for sure... 🤦
@@lizzystz2027 hi Lizzy. No worries at all - anytime. It’s certainly a more environmentally friendly approach than weed spraying the area 😊 Which won’t actually decrease the fertility either 👍
i have 3 acres of lawn that i'd love to naturalize into something more friendly to the earth however, i am terribly allergic to ragweed and it grows everywhere around here. How do i keep the ragweed out of the wildflower meadow?
You might want to consider turning that area into a woodland garden, many wildflowers prefer to grow under the canopy of trees but ragweed doesn't
Hi Danee - I think this is the plant in North America that causes a lot of allergies through to Autumn time. As with all prolific seeders it is best to mow short before it gets a chance to go to seed, but I can empathise with trying to do this over 3 acres! Some recommend weedkiller and herbicides but you'd never hear me recommending either of those, due to the damage they can cause to invertebrates and other creatures of course. Ragweed roots are small and shallow which means they can be hand-pulled easily, but again easily doesn't apply to 3 acres! I would certainly recommend trying to eradicate it by preventing it going to seed but then that does mean that you will also be mowing other flowers that you might want to go to seed. But to achieve good results then you may have to "sacrifice" the area with several mows a year and of course particularly at the end of summer. It should help eradicate a fair bit over 2 years and you could always do a "test" on one acre, taking into account that the left seed from the other 2 acres might encroach. Apologies if this is not a very helpful answer but I can't think of much else I'm afraid. Best wishes, Joel
@@nautilus2612 @Nautilus Thank you - really helpful and, not being from the US, I didn't know this :)
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton it’s a very helpful answer. I could probably do a combination of mowing and pulling. They are easy to pull and I've spent a lot of time this august pulling them out of the neighbors yards along the road I walk my dogs. We just moved here last year and the 3 acres is all grass except for a few small flower beds. I’m not opposed to adding shade trees and other plants to some of it closer the house but I’d like to add the meadow to some of the back yard. We abutt with a cornfield so it’s feasible.
@@nautilus2612 That’s good advice. I had an arborist here to see about the trees we have (we moved in a year ago) and he suggested shade trees so it’s been on my mind. Keeping out. ragweed is a great motivator
Wow! do you ever find any artefacts and archeological sites of significance?
Hello :) I've found a few victorian artefacts, like bottles etc that people would just bury in their gardens etc back then, the most significant thing was working in Dorset and finding a huge ammonite in some stone we were using for construction, I found the "imprint" of it in a large boulder first and then the following day found the actual ammonite at the bottom of the pile and luckily it had remained intact - will have to do a short video on that as you've just reminded me about it :) Best wishes, Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton that's awesome! Will be watching out for that video!
Hi! I saw that the house has a big backyard with gravel where you arrived. Did you know how they don’t have any weeds? There is a natural way to not allow weeds to grow in a gravel yard?
A nerdy question. Can you say how much diesel you used for the topsoil restructuring job? With that figure one could work out the equivalent figure in energy (kWh) and compare that to human effort. Apparently, one fit person can provide about 700W or 2.8 kWh for a day of 4 hours continuous work. 💪💪💪
Right now.... I can't think! It's a good question, but you can see that it'd take a hell of a lot of people in labour hours to get that same finish - are you offering your services? I'm always on the look out for labourers :) Best wishes, Joel
Well, next month I'm 66, and I'm based in N Scotland, so you'll have to manage without me. 🧙♂ 🤣
I asked because kWh could be a useful like-for-like unit for comparing different ways of doing the same garden jobs, e.g., petrol vs. battery vs. manual. I'm also interested in comparing meadow making by soil restructuring versus sowing parasitic plants, and I'm gradually sowing out more areas of my field with yellow rattle.
I think you've got the best UK channel on meadow making, BTW. 🤩 @@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton
@@scottishtomte 🤣🤣 I do work in Scotland, and am definitely not ageist, so look out! This is great to hear though and a good thing to look into. Yep, yellow rattle will save a LOT of effort! Thanks so much for the kind words and support, it makes all the effort worthwhile, it really does. Best wishes, Joel
Merci !
Thank you Nadine for your generosity, this means a lot and makes a difference to me, I know you know how much time and effort it takes to bring these videos to everyone - I'm very grateful. Best wishes, Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton I’ve been rather lazy about this but summer is always a busy time!
Man all that's missing is a wide brim hat
Haha! Brilliant!
Just a suggestion - mount the camera on a steady, stationary location for those of us with motion sickness.
Noted Keith - this was nearly 2 years ago when I was prepping the site, I've learned quite a bit since then and invested in a microphone of course as that wind noise is so annoying, you can't tell until you get home and upload the footage :/ I hope you enjoyed the rest of the film :) Best wishes, Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton indeed, very much. The area in front of our home I’ve been meddling with is turning out nicely for a variety of reasons. Not for a pond like I’d hoped, but perhaps some small, wet areas with grasses and wildflowers. Your videos are not only inspiring, but very useful instructionally-speaking. The 20/80 ratio advice was very helpful. I’ll provide you with photos per email at the appropriate time, maybe this fall just to show you the current conditions, then again after next growing season.
@@keithhanssen7413 Hey Keith, my apologies for not being able to keep in touch via email so far - I *knew* there was something I had to do! It's such a busy time at the moment and I've been working evenings and Saturdays to try to keep up, hence the lack of uploads too and not being able to respond to people in good time. But please do send some updates and photos and I'll ensure I give a deserved response :) Best wishes, Joel
I want to ask, isn't this way of working damaging insect life that is already there ?