pasture land ideas please

[Farplace]

I'm not sure exactly where to post this thread... We are looking to buy about 5 acres of pastureland close to the sanctuary in Weardale, County durham. It is roughly rectangular, has a natural spring which flows for much of the year, and has for many generations been used for grazing animals on.
If we manage to buy it, we would like to plant it up with trees, shrubs, wild flowers and possibly create a pond.
The plan is to attract as much wildlife as possible....
The fields all around this land are still grazed, so no green corridor as such.
I would like ideas on what to do with this land. What to plant there. How to manage the land.
....assuming we get it....
Jan

[Brocakat]

Have you heard of a very independant , very old lady called Hannah Hauxwell who, entirely on her own, managed a non-mains water/electric farm called
' Low Birk Hatt Farm ' which ( is now, after the Boundary/Admin. changes ) in County Durham, but was in North Yorkshire - for about 40 years ?

The only income from her ( non-improved) grassland fields was selling one Beef Cow/year, from her isolated, dilaidated premises.

She eventually retired to the local village of Cotherstone. I beleives she is still around, ( but has never been back to the farm ! ) The fields , now known as "Hannahs Meadows" are an SSSI and are floriferous-rich.

There may still be an article on her on the Beebs I-Player.

I hope your research leads you there & that you share the hopefully plentiful info. that others must have found in order that the fields were thus designated.

Happy research!


And look out for the 2 / 3 books on the Old Girl.

[Johnny Redgate]

Originally Posted by Farplace

I'm not sure exactly where to post this thread... We are looking to buy about 5 acres of pastureland close to the sanctuary in Weardale, County durham. It is roughly rectangular, has a natural spring which flows for much of the year, and has for many generations been used for grazing animals on.
If we manage to buy it, we would like to plant it up with trees, shrubs, wild flowers and possibly create a pond.
The plan is to attract as much wildlife as possible....
The fields all around this land are still grazed, so no green corridor as such.
I would like ideas on what to do with this land. What to plant there. How to manage the land.
....assuming we get it....
Jan

First of all: find out what is there already. A break in the grazing may help as herbs and grasses grow up and flower. If there is some habitat/community diversity draw a sketch map of the different habitat/community types (if any) to plan your improvements around and ensure that they really will be improvements (obviously you won't want to plant up species-rich grassland with trees and shrubs).

There are obviously lots of possibilities - new or improved hedgerow boundaries, pond(s), wildflower-rich grasslands, tree and shrub planting. Remember, your grassland is likely to require grazing or mowing whether it is already species-rich or whether you are going to try and improve it's species-richness. There are a few techniques available for this including planting wildflower plugs or pots, strewing green hay, slot seeding, etc but plug/pot planting may be the easiest to get started.

5 acres would give you scope to have worthwhile areas of several habitat types. Without more knowledge of the site it is difficult to give specific advice. But good luck and have fun.

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by Farplace

I'm not sure exactly where to post this thread... We are looking to buy about 5 acres of pastureland close to the sanctuary in Weardale, County durham.

Work with the Wildlife Trust, anything else would be just re-inventing the wheel Durham Wildlife Trust - Contact Us - and Johnny R's point about finding out what 'is there already' before making changes, is absolutely key to future management.

If the site is up for auction you may want to 'explore' whether the Trust will be a competitive bidder in case that informs your approach to the purchase.

CM

[bigdave60dog]

If I had the land I would definitely graze it. By definition your ground with stream is "Meadowland"
I would look at the plants already present and decide on a management strategy to improve it for biodiversity.
Sample soil, look around at biodiverse fields in the locality. Consider assets such as the stream. Maybe have decent sized overflow pond dug -if planner and water owners allow it.
I would search everywhere possible to find what grew there naturally in the past then target then make restoring the ground to that as a target.
There are loads of companies who specialise in natural meadowland seeds.
Remember that you must "cut your coat according to your cloth" in other words don`t take on more than you can manage. Meadows need grazing and often haymaking at the right times of the year. If you graze, where will your stock go when not needed to graze the field? If you make hay, who will have the expertise and machinery to do this at the right time without you waiting till he has finished everyone else`s work?
That is what I would do. I have done this in the past and was amazed at the return of Marbled whites, 6 Spot Burnets, a colny of Clouded Yellows one season etc. the smell of the hay was great.
However I am an ex farmer who has 40+ years of organic grassland management experience and knowledge behind me. It can be done and is very rewarding but if you do try this ensure that you have experienced and really knowledgeable backup.
Dave

[King Edward]

As others have said, it's also going to be important to find out what's there already. If there are already areas containing valuable habitat / species then obviously you'd want to manage those appropriately.

Also, do you have any particular preference for the type of wildlife you aim to attract? Ponds (ideally more than one) are probably going to be desirable. There is some good information on planning high quality pond creation here: Million Ponds Project. If there are existing damp/wetland areas (including seasonal/temporary ponds), it would probably be best to avoid these when building a new pond.

One key thing is to check the soil fertility. If it has been heavily fertilised in the past then you may struggle to recreate a diverse plant community. Phosphorus especially is very persistent with long lasting effects. For example, if the site had formerly been flower-rich grassland, but it's now 'improved' pasture, then just sowing in wildflower seeds isn't likely to be very successful (since you'll still have the high nutrient levels which eliminated them in the first place).

Grassland structure is also as important as species composition. E.g. large areas of meadow which is cut for hay then grazed may be good for flowers (depending on nutrient levels), but less good for e.g. reptiles, small mammals, Barn Owls etc. which would do better with rough grassland interspersed with areas of scrub. If the land around is heavily grazed then this kind of habitat is likely to be in short supply locally. Another plus is that it's something that could probably be quite successful on fertile land, rather than trying to recreate hay meadows which might just end up as a slightly better version of what it is now.

[Farplace]

Excelent thought from everybody, thank you. I am hoping to have a wander around the field today or tomorrow. All I know for the moment is there are hares and rabbits in the field, plus the occasional kestrel and buzzard hunting over it.
Someone else is also interested in this land (local farmer), so it's not a definate by any means.... but it would be nice to create HABITAT!
Ideally, I would like to attract lots of inverts, particularly dragonflies, caterpillars, spiders; amphibians & reptiles (around here particularly, common frog, toad, smooth newt and adder); Various rodents and insectivours; stoats, weasels..... raptors....
I am not expecting to provide habitat for anything rare (unless it is already present, which I doubt), just to improve what is already there and make it a haven for wildlife.
I will take some photos and report back in the next few days..........



Jan

[Brocakat]

Re. the local farmer.

Until you have decided upon any new cultvation/husbandry management techniques - find out what's been going -on --------right up to this last growing season.
The reason for this, is that it may well be that for whatever reason, you are u nable to start the changes you may wish to start - this particular coming/growing season- for all the different areas/fields.
So in the meantime you may wish to rent-out some/parts of your fields for the one season ( One season at a time) to a ( hopefully) adjoinging farmer.But with conditons. YOUR conditions. So many numbers of cows and / or sheep, or what times the meadows are cleared of animals so the meadows are 'closed' until the hay is 'in' . And you could choose the times. It may be that you only wish to shut it for Hay - but previously it/they were shut for silage.

If the field are kept empty & not even cut/cleared they will start to change, - without doing anything at all. But not neccessarily for the better. It does depend on what's found in any survey(s).

[Ladywell]

[quote=Farplace;741453]Excelent thought from everybody, thank you. I am hoping to have a wander around the field today or tomorrow. All I know for the moment is there are hares and rabbits in the field, plus the occasional kestrel and buzzard hunting over it.
Someone else is also interested in this land (local farmer), so it's not a definate by any means.... but it would be nice to create HABITAT!
Ideally, I would like to attract lots of inverts, particularly dragonflies, caterpillars, spiders; amphibians & reptiles (around here particularly, common frog, toad, smooth newt and adder); Various rodents and insectivours; stoats, weasels..... raptors....
I am not expecting to provide habitat for anything rare (unless it is already present, which I doubt), just to improve what is already there and make it a haven for wildlife.
I will take some photos and report back in the next few days..........


If you take on board other peoples' advice re grazing with livestock and taking hay off the land then I think it would be worth talking to the local farmer who might be interested in the land. He may be prepared not to bid on it if he is able to graze it and take hay off at times agreed between the two of you - it would certainly avoid a bidding war at auction. This has just happened very successfully in our neck of the woods. Good luck!

[Paul mabbott]

Don't rush into anything until you've sussed out what the soil is and what is likely to grow of its own accord. If it has been heavily fertilised you might want to put in a P-N hungry crop to help impoverish the soil a little.

What you can do fairly instantly is to improve the hedgerow and perimeter generally. Thicken the hedge, increase the number of species in it, add some trees at appropriate places, perhaps pop a few flowering plants in. By and large, hedgerows are the best part of any field-system!