January 2011

Early January's mix of frost, rain and grey skies meant not a lot done down at the field apart from some hedgerow conservation.
A patchy overgrown hawthorn hedge to the south boundary has had some of the height removed and made accessable along it's base-line for partial replanting / gapping up.
I use a Stihl long-arm chainsaw from their KombiSystem range. I've been careful to keep long established large dog-rose clusters for re-weaving back at around chest height and into the hedge structure when layering.
Part of the thinning is to enable stock-proof fencing to go in and for the gaps to be filled with new hawthorn plants and periodic placing of Hazel and a few ash. It's a compromise between existing wildlife cover and the long-term life-cycle of the hedge.

At home I've been going over a few plans and paperwork and a bit of an inventory of the nursery stock of native broadleaf and orchard trees I have at home. (Really looking forward to a pleasant few days to get on with a planting scheme, once the perimeter is secure against straying livestock).
Looking further ahead to sunny summer days, I've taken the pre-emptive step of purchasing a second-hand water-bowser for maintaining the orchard trees for the first couple of summers. Collection was via Oxfordshire last weekend, so a fine (but chilly) relaxed afternoon in the grounds at Rousham and then around Christ Church Meadow at Oxford.

Mid-January there was an automated Lower Dee Valley flood warning (phone / email from The Environment Agency - a modest temporary inundation about half-way up the height of the field gate, although the ground never seems to get waterlogged under foot afterwards). The River Dee had been getting higher after both a thaw and rain.
I temporarily migrated south to Salisbury, ironically looking at similar terrain and habitats in river valleys (also with raised water levels).

Along a minor road between Stapleford and Winterbourne Stoke, I spotted a similar small field to my own - here there was an area of grassland, a relatively newly planted small areas of broad-leaf young trees and also a small orchard area. One corner of the grassland had a discretely placed shepherd's living van...

Also in Salisbury, a quick nosey in Scats Country Stores and four 2m lengths of picket fence acquired for a bulk compost bed for dead leaves etc. (Another job for the Stihl Kombi-Tool with a cultivator head to whizz through now and then for a few of cubic metres of humus rich mulch).

hedgerow conservation

A couple of random days between snow, frosts and rain and sunshine tackling the overgrown south hedgerow.
No significant wildlife noticed since the tawny owl - although a mole-hill came up just in front of me with a small snout and front paws protruding, but I wasn't quick enough to get a photo.

The hawthorn is quite high in places along the south hedge line, but sporadically spaced along the 150 meter length of the boundary.
There is probably more gap than hedge, although a good few old dog-roses to conserve and bramble to take down quite a bit. A couple of young ash trees to preserve too.
The plan is to layer the entire length, trying to salvage as much of the original hawthorn as possible and to avoid too much wildlife disturbance in the process. The latter will be a compromise - I think the last time the hedge has been touched looks to have been about 10 years ago.
I'll be filling the gaps with new young hawthorn of regional provenance, as well as putting in a couple of alder and hazel and relocating a few young dog-rose plants.
A few young ash trees will be selectively placed as eventual replacements of the existing mature ash trees.
From maps going back to the late 1700s, there is continual evidence of mature hedgerow trees - but in a parallel row forming a lane in the next field. Apart from one lone oak, the hedge and trees the other side are long gone (non-existent apart from a soil-shadow on a 1970s aerial photo).
I'm quite tempted to replicate / re-establish a linear track within the boundary as green leafy access within my own field and effectively enhancing a green corridor along the field boundary.
The hedgerow rejuvenation is going to take me some time and then the installation of a stock-proof fence along the length...

Friday night on the TV, I was quite interested in Carol Klein's Life in a Cottage Garden - particularly as i got a copy of her excellent Grow your own fruit book for Xmas...

trees & wildlife

A New Year and an afternoon at the field.
A quick check of the hedges and fences (a bit of work to do until stock-proof yet) - signs of small mammal and bird activity at ground level along the hedge and a couple of small burrows further out.
Along the track-way, a squirrel and in the field behind a heron again.
A few cobs of partly chewed maize here and there from the adjoining field. Most of the hedgerow berries have gone now though.
Walking along the south hedgerow, I'm mindful of a couple of mature hollow trees - a balance between wildlife and safety. They are far enough away from the footpath to be too much of a worry.
Today, in one of the hollow trees, something caught my eye...

From Meadowcopse 2011

An owl seemingly asleep!
Just shows the conservation value of hollow trees, something mentioned often by conservation groups and agencies.

From Meadowcopse 2011

A few items in the weekend papers about a bit of a turnaround for the fortunes of wildlife in the UK, particularly over the last 10 years - a shame that the very agencies with formal responsibility have a dark political shadow over them.

The rest of the afternoon was spent thinning a corner of the south hedge for layering and fencing preparations.
I'm hoping for a week without frost to get ahead with some tree planting from the native broad-leaf stock back at home.