I recognise the presence of this grass as an indicator of damp ground and walking it certainly confirmed that but don't know what it's officially called... can anyone tell from this picture?
What is this grass?
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Sounds about right - I always thought rush was bigger but a brief google search indicates otherwise
Basic way to distinguish between three difficult groups of plants: look at them in cross section in the stem
Grasses are a sort of flattened oval, sedges are triangular, rushes are circular.
Generally expressed as "Sedges have edges, and rushes are round"
Grasses are a sort of flattened oval, sedges are triangular, rushes are circular.
Generally expressed as "Sedges have edges, and rushes are round"
I'm pretty confident it's rush. This is land I'm trying to buy at the moment - will partially plant with willow and other trees to control a bit of the moisture
Don't know if it helps any, but when fieldwalking that kind of flora is usually indicative of old farmland left fallow too long or grazed instead of cropped.
Basically it'd do it a power of good to run a plough with a field drain bore on it over the whole site.
cheers,
M
Basically it'd do it a power of good to run a plough with a field drain bore on it over the whole site.
cheers,
M
Well, that depends what you want out of the land. Biodiversity-wise, that is about the worst thing you could do. Old wet farmland and rushy pasture is a declining habitat with a very specific flora and fauna.
Like I said, it depends what you want. If you want to improve the draininage and make it easier for public access then your advice will be spot on.
No criticism intended.
My plan is to plant a proportion of it with willow, to help drain some of the moisture (I'll also be hiring a digger to open up the ditches a little better - don't know if there are any existing land drains on the property). I'd also like to plant some different trees - there is a small apple orchard already and plenty of oak, birch and holly around the perimeter - not sure if hazel will take but hopefully cherry, hawthorn, hornbeam and pear will add to the mix. I don't think there's enough land (10 acres) to have a commercial crop of anything (might be wrong) but in a few years we could be self sufficient in firewood if the willow grows like it's supposed to!
At the moment, they've got sheep on the lower pasture (which if anything, is wetter than this one... as I type I realise that makes it sound as if people didn't know water flows downhill...). I will be grazing part of the land to control the grass and hopefully negate the need to buy a tractor as funds are going to be pretty tight for a few years!
At the moment, they've got sheep on the lower pasture (which if anything, is wetter than this one... as I type I realise that makes it sound as if people didn't know water flows downhill...
). I will be grazing part of the land to control the grass and hopefully negate the need to buy a tractor as funds are going to be pretty tight for a few years!
Well, that depends what you want out of the land. Biodiversity-wise, that is about the worst thing you could do. Old wet farmland and rushy pasture is a declining habitat with a very specific flora and fauna.
Like I said, it depends what you want. If you want to improve the draininage and make it easier for public access then your advice will be spot on.
No criticism intended.
Ehm, I think that depends on where you live, tbh. I've fieldwalked a lot of the country, from the north of England up to Inverness, it's sodden wet a lot of it.
If the man is thinking of planting willow to soak up the water, persuading a neighbouring farmer's lad to run across the field with the drain attachment on the plough is a very sound idea.
Whether the sheep at the bottom of the hill will see it that way though, is another matter entirely
I do take the point about biodiversity, but the reality is that if he wants to use the land, then it looks like it needs some work done.
cheers,
M
There's a ditch and a hedge separating the two fields so the sheep shouldn't be affected. I'm hoping to dig a lake in the lower field too as there's already standing water. Mole draining might be a good idea...
It's all theoretical until we can actually buy it
It's all theoretical until we can actually buy it
Ehm, I think that depends on where you live, tbh. I've fieldwalked a lot of the country, from the north of England up to Inverness, it's sodden wet a lot of it.
If the man is thinking of planting willow to soak up the water, persuading a neighbouring farmer's lad to run across the field with the drain attachment on the plough is a very sound idea.
Whether the sheep at the bottom of the hill will see it that way though, is another matter entirely
I do take the point about biodiversity, but the reality is that if he wants to use the land, then it looks like it needs some work done.
cheers,
M
I agree. Just my devil's advocate mode again.
It looks similar to my bit of woodland, there's plenty of water, rush and other wetland loving plants about.
I know hazel isn't meant to like very wet land but I've got quite a bit, some newly planted and some quite old stools and some of those are in very boggy land. Alder and goat/pussy willow does well and I both worth growing IMHO.
If you dig new ditches remember that they catch water flowing from slopes above rather than drain land below. Down here in Devon hedgebanks are a good way of getting some drier land to plant in.
Good luck with your purchase BTW.
Looks like good owl hunting ground. Get building
http://www.barnowltrust.org.uk/infopage.html?Id=202
http://www.barnowltrust.org.uk/infopage.html?Id=202
Is the grass tween brambles and rush Molinia? If it were mine I'd graze native sheep on it, they have the gut flora to cope with Molinia/scrub and are very tasty. More commercial breeds of sheep require supplementary feeding on such sites and end up nutrifying it.
There's already an owl in the barn - not sure which type (although barn owl sounds likely )
I was aware of ditches not draining uphill, thanks I wasn't planning on digging new ones - just clearing the old ones
To add to the confusion, just viewed a property with less land but with a stream. There is about 2 acres of woodland adjoining it and the owner isn't sure if they own it (he thinks the farm does but they didn't seem to know either)...
)I was aware of ditches not draining uphill, thanks
I wasn't planning on digging new ones - just clearing the old onesTo add to the confusion, just viewed a property with less land but with a stream. There is about 2 acres of woodland adjoining it and the owner isn't sure if they own it (he thinks the farm does but they didn't seem to know either)...
