Wild flower meadow project update (November 2019)

It has finally stopped raining long enough for the trees we had ordered (see previous blog) to arrive.

We brought the trees from Majestic Trees and their truck arrived on a damp November day.

After laying some boards across part of the field the next job was unloading.

The farmer had let us use his field for access to where the trees were to be planted in our meadow area. You can still see standing water in the field as a result of the continuous rain we have been having!

The first tree arrives safely to where it will be planted. Time for a cup of coffee!

Another tree is brought across the field.

And positioned near where it will be planted.

And similarly the third tree.

Here comes a small digger and various bits of kit for the planting of the trees.

Ready to start digging the first hole.

Is it deep enough yet?

Measuring up for the watering system

Excess soil loaded into bags and removed

Lifting the tree into the hole

Almost there!

Ensuring the tree is upright was done by eye . The sacking around the root ball was not removed as it rots way quite naturally.

The tree needs to be fixed so it will not blow over. Two of the trees had substantial root balls and the system used was Platipus Anchors.

Platipus Tree anchor

The anchor on the end of the wire is pushed into the ground with the help of the steel rod and in this case the shovel of the digger.

The wire is then pulled up and as it does the anchor folds out and fixes the wire in place.

This was then repeated three times giving three anchored points around the root ball. A wire was then threaded through these points and a ratchet used to tighten the root ball into the ground.

Here you can see the wire across the top of the root ball. A watering tube was then positioned around the root ball.

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Watering is the most important factor to establish the trees

And the tree is finally planted.

Fagus sylvatica ‘Tricolour’

Similarly the second tree.

Liquidambar styraciflua

Crataegus laevigata ‘Paul’s Scarlet’

And the third although with a smaller root ball a more conventional way of securing the tree has been used.

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In addition to the trees we have planted some roses in the two corners adjacent to our main garden. These are Rosa Rugosa, Rosa Rugosa ‘Alba’ and Rosa Rugosa ‘Fru Dagmar Hastrup’. These were chosen for their hips providing food for birds in the autumn as well as their colour in the spring.

There is still some more work to do in the meadow. I plan to move an existing tree from elsewhere in the garden and we have around 1000 Fritillaria Meleagris (Snakeshead) in the greenhouse that will need planting out in the spring!

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Wild flower meadow project update (August)

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Things have certainly moved on since this project started. We now have a fence (except for the field gate which should arrive this week). The lime tree in the picture has had its canopy raised so I can walk under it. This should create a dappled shade enabling wild flowers to grow under the tree. In the recent exceptionally hot spell (34c) it also provided one of the coolest parts of our garden!

The major and exhausting job has been cutting the existing grass and scarification to expose the soil prior to seeding.

The grass was first cut as short as possible. Even then there remained a lot of thatch as these fields have been a sheep meadow for several hundred years. Then my little scarifier has done the work to cut into the thatch and pull it up.

The thatch then needs to be raked up.

Without the right machine this is very much a manual job and quite exhausting it is too!

The thatch is beginning to loosen up so that when we seed the seed can make contact with the soil and hopefully germinate.

Interestingly although we have only brought about 26m into the field we do seem much closer to the pond. This pond was the fish pond for the rectory next door. It is therefore at least 300 years old and could have been a medieval fish pond. The level is maintained by a small weir on the stream which runs along the edge of the field.

So far I have scarified the whole field in one direction. Now I need to do the same in the other direction!

Right from the start we decided to get some mature trees. A visit to Majestic Trees and we now have three trees on order. A Liquidambar styraciflua

A Fagus sylvatica ‘Tricolour’ and

a Crataegus laevigata ‘Paul’s Scarlet’. These trees will be planted in October when we should expect more rain. As you can see from the pictures they are on extensive watering systems.

Lastly we now have brought the meadow seed. We were fortunate to have a long established wild flower seed supplier near us called Naturescape. Discussions with them certainly helped us choose the seed. We have gone for three different seed mixes:

The ditch which forms the ha-ha at the edge of the garden is always going to be damp and we have gone for Wetland Meadow Mixture:

Latin Name	English Name	Mix Composition
Achillea millefolium	Yarrow	2.50%
Centaurea nigra	Common Knapweed	9%
Filipendula ulmaria	Meadowsweet	8%
Lathyrus pratensis	Meadow Vetchling	3%
Leucanthemum vulgare	Oxeye Daisy	7%
Lotus corniculatus	Birdsfoot Trefoil	4%
Lotus pedunculatus	Greater Birdsfoot Trefoil	4%
Lychnis flos-cuculi	Ragged Robin	2%
Ononis repens	Common Restharrow	2%
Plantago lanceolata	Ribwort Plantain	4%
Primula veris	Cowslip	3%
Prunella vulgaris	Self Heal	8%
Ranunculus acris	Meadow Buttercup	9%
Rhinanthus minor	Yellow Rattle	10%
Rumex acetosa	Common Sorrel	8%
Sanguisorba officinalis	Great Burnet	2%
Serratula tinctoria	Sawwort	1%
Stachys officinalis	Betony	2.50%
Succisa pratensis	Devilsbit Scabious	3.50%
Tragopogon pratensis	Goatsbeard	2%
Trifolium pratense	Wild Red Clover	3%
Vicia cracca	Tufted Vetch	3%

The areas under the Lime tree and the Horse Chestnut tree will always be dry and we have been advised that a Hedgerow Meadow Mixture would work well there:

Latin Name	English Name	Mix Composition
Achillea millefolium	Yarrow	3%
Agrimonia eupatoria	Common Agrimony	4%
Alliaria petiolata	Garlic Mustard	7%
Centaurea nigra	Common Knapweed	6%
Digitalis purpurea	Wild Foxglove	3%
Filipendula ulmaria	Meadowsweet	4%
Galium mollugo	Hedge Bedstraw	4%
Geranium pyrenaicum	Hedgerow Cranesbill	1%
Geum urbanum	Wood Avens	5%
Hypericum perforatum	Common St. John’s Wort	2%
Knautia arvensis	Field Scabious	4%
Lathyrus pratensis	Meadow Vetchling	3%
Leontodon autumnalis	Autumn Hawkbit	2%
Leucanthemum vulgare	Oxeye Daisy	5%
Malva moschata	Musk Mallow	5%
Malva sylvestris	Common Mallow	4%
Prunella vulgaris	Self Heal	5%
Silene alba	White Campion	5%
Silene dioica	Red Campion	7%
Silene vulgaris	Bladder Campion	2%
Stachys sylvatica	Hedge Woundwort	6%
Torilis japonica	Upright Hedge Parsley	4%
Verbascum nigrum	Dark Mullein	3%
Vicia cracca	Tufted Vetch	5%
Vicia sylvatica	Wood Vetch	1%

And for the bulk of the field a Summer Flowering Butterfly & Bee Meadow Mixture:

Latin Name	English Name	Mix Composition
Achillea millefolium	Yarrow	3%
Anthyllis vulneraria	Kidney Vetch	3%
Campanula glomerata	Clustered Bellflower	1%
Campanula trachelium	Nettle Leaved Bellflower	1%
Centaurea nigra	Common Knapweed	8%
Centaurea scabiosa	Greater Knapweed	5%
Daucus carota	Wild Carrot	4%
Echium vulgare	Viper’s Bugloss	4%
Galium verum	Lady’s Bedstraw	8%
Geranium pratense	Meadow Cranesbill	2%
Hypericum perforatum	Common St. John’s Wort	3%
Knautia arvensis	Field Scabious	5%
Lathyrus pratensis	Meadow Vetchling	3%
Linaria vulgaris	Common Toadflax	1%
Lotus corniculatus	Birdsfoot Trefoil	7%
Lythrum salicaria	Purple Loosestrife	2%
Origanum vulgare	Wild Marjoram	2%
Prunella vulgaris	Self Heal	10%
Rhinanthus minor	Yellow Rattle	7%
Scabiosa columbaria	Small Scabious	4%
Stachys officinalis	Betony	4%
Stachys sylvatica	Hedge Woundwort	3%
Succisa pratensis	Devilsbit Scabious	2%
Trifolium pratense	Wild Red Clover	3%
Verbascum nigrum	Dark Mullein	2%
Vicia cracca	Tufted Vetch	3%

In addition we added some seed of Cowslips, Oxeye Daisy, Greater Hawbit, Salard Burnet and Pignut. We will probably seed the area around the end of August.

One unexpected benefit of the meadow is it gives us another view into our garden.