First it was cherry blossoms, then it was Wisteria hysteria season… and now, influencers are coming for the UK’s bluebell fields.
Outraged locals have taken to online forums to share their distress at content creators trampling on the delicate wildflowers while trying to capture a perfect Instagrammable snap.
Ample rainfall and an unseasonably warm spring have created ideal growing conditions for the plant – but conscientious walkers are worried the swarms of influencers will bring an even earlier end to the season.
The UK is home to 50 per cent of the world’s bluebells and the native flowers are protected as an endangered species.
The delicate bluebell plant is easily damaged and can take anywhere between five and seven years to recover after being trampled, before flowering again.
Taking to Threads, one person explained how they had installed boundary fencing to protect the ‘delicate’ bluebells from being damaged, broken or plucked as content creators take ‘poor quality’ pictures.
‘However, this hasn’t solved the problem,’ they added, as ‘careless’ videos filmed in hotspots like London’s Kew Gardens, Surrey, Kent, Devon, and Nottingham sparked fears the plants were being destroyed.
TikTok is flooded with videos about where to find the prettiest bluebell displays in the UK right now, with their creators filming themselves during walks, allowing dogs to run through the fields and even riding ponies in the woods.
One post by TikTok user @rachael_penn showed four dogs playing in the ‘bluebell woods’ while @lottiebonephotography kneeled on the flowers as she photographed her daughters right in the middle of a field in Ilkley.
Outraged locals have took to online forums to share their distress at content creators trampling on the delicate wildflowers while trying to capture a perfect Instagrammable snap
The UK is home to 50 per cent of the world’s bluebells and the native flowers are protected as an endangered species
‘Our annual adventure in the Bluebells with my top two models,’ she captioned the video.
‘Cute and all, but please stick to the paths!’ one person urged in the comments section. ‘You’re destroying all the wild flowers just for the sake of a picture.’
The creator replied they had been ‘really careful’ because ‘bluebells are our favourites’ – but others were not as discerning.
In one video, social media content creator Freya_adventureawaits filmed herself walking through bluebell fields, while another captured by Robin, under the TikTok handle @ourhampshirebeyond, showed his wife frolicking through a local bluebell field.
Some filmed themselves picking bluebells, even though it can attract a fine of up to £5,000 as plucking or destroying the flowers is illegal under the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981.
There were scores of comments urging visitors to Rannerdale Knotts in the Lake District to ‘enjoy nature as it is’ after TikTok user @geordie_hiker (who goes by ‘Adventure Mama’ on the platform’ highlighted the ‘magical’ walk.
‘As a local, we love to share our landscape with visitors but please remember to maintain the natural beauty,’ one comment read. ‘So many people trample on them to get the perfect Instagram shot.’
‘Please don’t walk amongst bluebells, it takes seven years for them to recover from any damage,’ one person pleaded, after @keltaylor filmed her young son walking through the fields at Everdon Stubbs in Daventry.
Despite these warnings, however, most hotspots are marked by the sight of ‘crushed plants on all sides’.
Writing on Facebook, one person wrote they travelled to Wanstead in London after seeing ‘gorgeous pictures of UK bluebells woods’ only to be met with the sight of ‘crushed plants on all sides’.
TikTok is flooded with videos about where to find the prettiest bluebell displays in the UK right now, with their creators filming themselves during walks, allowing dogs to run through the fields and even riding horses in the woods
Pictured: social media influencer @itsfashionyesta shares footage of her in a blubell field
Another confessed ‘this very thing is the source of MUCH consternation in local WhatsApp groups’ while a third wrote: ‘It is annoying.’
At the start of bluebell season last month, a ‘frustrated’ Threads user revealed they had volunteered to install boundary fencing to protect the bluebells but nothing deterred the ‘moronic general public’ from stepping over it anyway.
‘Every year they put up information boards,’ one person commented. ‘Every year I’ve seen people with dogs off leads and groups posing for photos within the protected areas.’
‘I can really sympathise. We used to able to visit a beautiful bluebell wood near where I live in Dorset,’ another wrote. ‘Now it has all been fenced off and no one can go there anymore because so many idiots ruined it. It’s very sad.’
A third agreed the problem of influencers was ‘so annoying’ adding: ‘My local spot for bluebells was showing signs of ill-treatment like trampling and dog poop everywhere and this was shortly after they had started flowering.’
Many have complained this is a persistent issue that crops up every year.
Despite warnings, most hotspots are marked by the sight of ‘crushed plants on all sides’. Pictured: content creator @wynitrose runs through a bluebell fields
In 2022, the Daily Mail reported that an eco-influencer came under fire after filming herself stomping all over bluebells.
Filmmaker Alice Aedy, who has over 150,000 followers on Instagram, was criticised after she ignored signs to walk all over the woodland flowers while being filmed for a social media post about the environment.
Ms Aedy wore a ‘Choose Earth’ T-shirt in the video filmed in ‘the most beautiful [woods] just outside London’ to mark Earth Day.
She is then filmed going off the designated path in the private woodland in Chalfont St Giles Buckinghamshire where she and a friend then walk right across swathes of bluebells.
‘No one could believe she was walking across the bluebells. She was immediately told off by others present and she said sorry and it seemed to be the end of the matter,’ a source told the Daily Mail at the time.
Despite this Ms Aedy went on to post the footage on her Instagram – and reproduced versions of the video caused widespread indignation prompting her to issue an apology.
She later reflected on the ‘intense backlash’ as Ms Aedy revealed she was branded a flower ‘murderer’ for her mistake.
‘It all felt hugely disproportionate and to be honest, it has really stuck with me,’ she wrote in a post on Instagram.
She also called out the ‘the perfectionism we hold climate activists to’ as Ms Aedy said: ‘There is always compromise.’
Earlier this month, Monty Don reiterated the National Trust’s warning against digging up bluebells, adding: ‘If you go to a wood and see acres and acres of them, take one, and you’ve broken the law.’
Instead, the Gardeners World presenter recommended buying potted bluebells after the flowering period ends in May.
