GREEN GOTLAND
Gotland meadows
A still morning in May, but far from silent. It is as if you were cocooned in gossamer greenery and bird song. A picture that looked like this would be exaggerated. Here the power of nature is perceptible, from small sprouting herbs to mighty trees. A Gotland meadow is beautiful throughout the year. Lie on your back, suck on a straw and look up through the leaves at a warm summer’s day. Bring coffee in a thermos and feel the stillness of autumn among oak leaves and yellowed grass. Or dress up warmly and follow the tracks in the snow of all the animals that live in the meadow. Here the animals rules, not you.
Many of Gotland’s meadows are managed in the traditional way down to this day. In spring they burn old twigs and leaves. In late summer it is time for haymaking with a scythe. After haymaking the grazing animals are taken out into certain meadows where they trample in herb and grass seeds. In late summer the trees are lopped or pollarded. Pruning makes the crowns of the trees smaller and thereby increases the admission of light to the meadow.
This way of taking care of the land has a very long tradition, that actually goes back to the time before the birth of Christ, when farmers began to clear the land to create hayfields and grazing. The method also means that diversity of species is maintained. In a meadow there thrive great quantities of herbs, mushrooms and lichens – likewise birds and butterflies. Read more about the history of the Gotland meadows at Se Gotland
Gotland meadows
A still morning in May, but far from silent. It is as if you were cocooned in gossamer greenery and bird song. A picture that looked like this would be exaggerated. Here the power of nature is perceptible, from small sprouting herbs to mighty trees. A Gotland meadow is beautiful throughout the year. Lie on your back, suck on a straw and look up through the leaves at a warm summer’s day. Bring coffee in a thermos and feel the stillness of autumn among oak leaves and yellowed grass. Or dress up warmly and follow the tracks in the snow of all the animals that live in the meadow. Here the animals rules, not you.
Many of Gotland’s meadows are managed in the traditional way down to this day. In spring they burn old twigs and leaves. In late summer it is time for haymaking with a scythe. After haymaking the grazing animals are taken out into certain meadows where they trample in herb and grass seeds. In late summer the trees are lopped or pollarded. Pruning makes the crowns of the trees smaller and thereby increases the admission of light to the meadow.
This way of taking care of the land has a very long tradition, that actually goes back to the time before the birth of Christ, when farmers began to clear the land to create hayfields and grazing. The method also means that diversity of species is maintained. In a meadow there thrive great quantities of herbs, mushrooms and lichens – likewise birds and butterflies. Read more about the history of the Gotland meadows at Se Gotland
