Frequently asked questions

We need more wildflowers for a few reasons, including:

• Wildflowers provide food and shelter to bees and other essential pollinators, not to mention other animals, insects and birds. It’s estimated that pollinators are responsible for a third of our food production as well as supporting the entire ecosystem.
• Wildflowers play a vital role in our ecosystem, helping to boost biodiversity and create a resilient, healthy habitat that supports life.  
• Wildflower meadows used to be much more abundant, but since the 1930s we have lost 97% of the meadowland in the UK due to land development and large-scale farming. 
• Wildflowers help to sequester carbon in the soil where it belongs, so planting more wildflowers can help to counteract the effects of climate change.

Wildflower meadows are excellent at capturing carbon dioxide and preventing it from being released into our atmosphere, contributing to climate change. Wildflowers absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and keep it sequestered in their extensive root system. Even if a wildflower meadow is cut once a year, that carbon stays locked away and the wildflowers grow back. One hectare can absorb 3 tonnes of CO2 in a year!

That is a fantastic question and one that has as many answers as there are square metres. Just like trees, not all square metres will be the same, so we take an average of meadowland in different soils. This is about 300g per square metre a year. This is more per square metre than newly planted forests. We test our soil to find out how much carbon is being sequestered with the help of our friends at Agricarbon. Because your square metres are protected for 30 years, you get 3 kg of carbon offset over 30 years. So you will continue to help the planet, long after your last payment. Check out the video below to see how we measure the carbon in our soil.

When the land has been purchased, you will receive a What3Words link and QR connected to your specific square metre so you can see where it is. Finding the right land and purchasing takes some time, so it is not done immediately, but given that it takes 20 years before most trees start to have a tangible carbon benefit, it’s still much quicker than planting trees!

We budget £12 for every square metre – this covers the purchase of the land, planting and maintenance over 30 years. We work with the government, the University of Lincoln and ecology experts, to turn that land into a biodiverse wildflower meadow.

While we offer carbon offsetting, and it is a big part of what we do, we are more focused on wildflower planting and rewilding land to encourage biodiversity. We want to offer financially accessible carbon offsetting to people and businesses, and have included the Carbon Calculator so you can easily work out your carbon footprint and choose how much to offset with us. We also offer tangible visual data presented in a digestible way that you can share on your website, social media, newsletters, emails and more.

Another thing that makes My Square Metre different is how we adapt and do what’s best for each individual piece of land in the long term. We conduct a survey of the land and surrounding area and choose plants and wildflowers that will offer the most benefit to that location. Innovation is part of what we do. We are experimenting with planting practices that we believe will speed up the biodiversity process and hope to share our findings in a paper in 2024.

We don’t plant on land that is suitable for farming. We only use Grade 3 or 4 land that is considered poor quality, or former industrial ‘brownfield’ sites. We don’t want to take away productive land that is useful to the hardworking people who provide our food. Land that was originally farmland will be open for farmers to rent after 30 years on My Square Metre green farming contracts.

Once you have paid for a Square Metre, it goes green forever.

After 30 years of maintaining and restoring wildflower-filled meadowland, one of 3 things will happen.

– The meadow will be completely rewilded, as after 30 years the flowers will be strong and prevalent enough to continue growing without intervention.

– Some land will be rented to farmers on green farming and innovation contracts to ensure the biodiversity above and below the soil is maintained. This helps food to be grown in the UK so less has to be imported.

– A small percentage (less than 1%) may be developed, but only at net zero carbon, and only sustainable businesses that benefit the community.

First, we select a blend of native English wildflowers and grasses to sow that suit the exact area we are planting in. We plant your wildflowers on land that is not suitable for farming – wildflowers thrive in low-quality soil. We take care of the land, cutting the meadow once a year and sowing more seeds if needed, although most wildflowers are self-seeding and don’t usually require this. We simply keep a watchful eye on the land (we do test the soil to see exactly how much carbon is being stored) for 30 years.

After 30 years of maintaining and restoring wildflower-filled meadowland, one of 3 things will happen.

• The meadow will be completely rewilded, as after 30 years the flowers will be strong and prevalent enough to continue growing without intervention.
• Some land will be rented to farmers on green farming and innovation contracts to ensure the biodiversity above and below the soil is maintained. This helps food to be grown in the UK so less has to be imported.
• A small percentage (less than 1%) may be developed, but only at net zero carbon, and only sustainable businesses that benefit the community.

We plant a blend of 30 different English native wildflowers and grasses depending on the surrounding environment, natural light levels and other levels. All of our wildflower mixes contain a rich blend of different flowers and grasses that provide food and shelter to a range of different insects, birds and animals. You can see our different wildflower mixes here.

Our meadows are carefully monitored to watch for invasive species or any other harmful elements. If an invasive species were discovered, we would take action by physically removing it and keeping a close eye on the area in case it returns.

Not exactly. Rewilding usually refers to restoring an area to its natural state and then allowing nature to take over. Our wildflower meadows are carefully managed, but much like rewilding sites, they provide numerous benefits to the local wildlife and the ecosystem.

We don’t have the need for fertilisers, as wildflowers grow best in low-quality soil that is poor in nutrients. In fact, the presence of wildflowers and the wildlife they attract enrich and improve the soil of our meadows. We don’t use any pesticides – that would be counterproductive as we want insects to thrive in our meadows, not kill them! 

Yes – before planting in a new place, we survey the land and surrounding area to find out which plants would be most beneficial to that location. We are working with ecology experts and the University of Lincoln to collect data on the biodiversity of our meadows and our planting methods and plan to share our findings in an upcoming paper.

1) “1 m² has ~500 wildflowers at peak”

What we mean
This is a peak-season snapshot of open blooms per square metre, not the number of plants or a year-round average.

Method (summary)

• We cite Plantlife’s reference that “a typical meadow can be home to ~570 open flowers per m² on a single day in early summer.” We present this as a rounded “~500+” to stay conservative. Plantlife

Sources

• Plantlife, The Good Meadow Guide (PDF), “570 flowers per m² … on a single day in early summer.” Also notes peak nectar output for a 3-acre meadow. Plantlife

• National Pollinator Plan resources echo similar figures. All-Ireland Pollinator Plan

Caveats
Counts vary with soil, species mix, and management. We measure our own quadrats annually and can replace the default with site data.

2) “1 m² can feed ~36 bees (at peak)”

What we mean
This is an estimated ‘bee-foraging-days’ figure for a single peak summer day, based on nectar sugar available per m² divided by a benchmark daily sugar need for one worker honey bee. It is not a headcount of individual insects fed.

Method (summary)

1. Nectar per m² at peak: Plantlife reports ~6 kg nectar sugar per day from a 3-acre (~12,140 m²) flower-rich meadow at peak ⇒ ~0.49 g sugar per m² per day (6,000 g ÷ 12,140 m²). Plantlife

2. Bee daily sugar need (benchmark): widely cited estimate ≈ 11 mg dry sugar per worker per day. Bee Health+2Honey Bee Health Coalition+2

3. Bee-days at peak: 0.49 g ÷ 0.011 g ≈ ~45 bee-foraging-days per m² per peak day.

4. Our claim: we communicate a rounded, conservative figure (~30–40 bee-days/m² at peak), hence “about 36 bees” as a simple anchor for non-technical audiences.

Sources

• Plantlife, The Good Meadow Guide: ~6 kg nectar sugar per day from 3 acres at peak. Plantlife

• Honey Bee Health Coalition (2024) nutrition guide; Extension article (Bee Health Extension): ~11 mg dry sugar/bee/day; peer-reviewed overview is consistent. Honey Bee Health Coalition+2Bee Health+2

• Baude et al. (2016), Nature: foundational UK work quantifying nectar supply by habitat and species (we use it to justify nectar-based estimation methods). Nature+2White Rose Research Online+2

Caveats
Different bees have different energy needs; nectar varies by species and weather; this is a peak-day estimate, not season-long. Wherever possible we’ll replace it with site-measured flower density and (optionally) nectar-per-m² estimates grounded in Baude et al. coefficients.

3) “1 m² can sequester ~3 kg CO₂ over 30 years”

What we mean
A long-term, order-of-magnitude estimate for soil carbon gains from well-managed, species-rich grassland establishment/enhancement. We don’t issue carbon credits and this figure must not be used for neutrality claims.

Method (summary)

1. Convert your claim to a per-year, per-hectare rate to check plausibility.

   • 3 kg CO₂ per m² over 30 years ⇒ 0.1 kg CO₂/m²/yr.

   • Multiply by 10,000 m²/ha ⇒ 1.0 t CO₂/ha/yr average.

2. Compare to independent reviews of temperate grassland soil C sequestration:

   • Natural England’s evidence review summarises ranges for semi-natural grasslands in the UK (context-dependent; broadly consistent with ~0.4–3.7 t CO₂/ha/yr reported in global syntheses). Natural England

   • Recent syntheses of grassland SOC sequestration show overlapping global ranges and highlight strong dependence on baseline condition and management. Science+1

3. Your working figure (1.0 t CO₂/ha/yr) sits within published ranges for grassland creation/restoration under favourable conditions, so ~3 kg/m² over 30 years is a cautious, defensible communication estimate.

Sources

• Natural England Research Report NERR094 (2021): Carbon storage and sequestration by habitat — UK-focused evidence synthesis for semi-natural habitats. Natural England

• Bai et al. (2022), Science: global grassland SOC sequestration potential; frames typical magnitudes/ranges. Science

• Additional peer-reviewed examples report hectare-scale rates of similar order under restoration/abandonment scenarios (contextual check). ScienceDirect+1

Caveats
Actual sequestration varies with soil type, previous land use, moisture, nutrient status, seed mix, and management. Gains are not strictly linear over 30 years. We report site monitoring (sward condition, species mix) and keep the carbon figure as a plain-English estimate unless/until we run a soil-carbon protocol.