Caistor St Edmund, Norfolk: This meadow-maker sucks the life from dominant grasses to allow others to thrive Four miles per hour is too slow – the plants are pushed down. Eight is too fast – tearing ...

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. John James, head gardener of Christ Church college, part of the University of Oxford, is feeling excited.

Wildflower meadows are sources of limitless fascination as they change and evolve throughout the year, and can be as big as an orchard or a part of the lawn. For most of the year, a meadow can be left ...