This photograph shows a healthy soil sample taken by digging a small pit in a field, demonstrating a relatively good soil structure. The grass roots can be seen growing at least four inches below the surface (surface on the right of the photo); there is little obvious compaction; worms are in evidence and the soil is a good colour – it also smelt good and fresh and not stale. Deep grass roots enable the sward to access water, and can source more trace elements and minerals, helping it cope in times of drought and indeed when the ground is saturated, making it stronger and more durable. Aerating is a key task in helping to achieve this.

Getting soil analysed every three years or so is an excellent way to keep a tab of what’s going on, but in between lab tests, keeping on top of any deficiencies can be as simple digging a hole with a spade and looking to see what is in there – lots of lovely worms helping breakdown organic matter? Is the soil sweet smelling and crumbly, or hard, foul smelling and probably anaerobic?

If so, your soil will probably need some help. Help in the form of applying soil conditioners to help its structure and trace elements, harrowing, rolling if absolutely necessary, and scheduling in some aerating to simulate grass root growth and the all important anaerobic digestion of organic materials.

Don’t forget – soil is a living organism!

Sweet Chestnut, that most beautiful of trees, is grown commercially in Southern Britain, where it is coppiced and used to make excellent quality fencing materials. The trees respond very well to coppicing and produce a good crop of tannin-rich wood every 15 to 30 years, depending on local growth rate and what its intended end-use is – it might be used for fencing, roof timbers, or made into barrels for ageing things such as balsamic vinegar.
The naturally occurring tannins in the wood make it very durable and an excellent fencing material, suitable for gateposts, rails and stakes or fence posts. The wood when first cut is light or pale in colour, and is very hard and very strong.
And because it is naturally high in tannins, it requires no treating with harsh, man-made chemical preservatives. Fences are put up without the need for nails or screws as the stakes or posts are mortised and the rails simply slip into them, and it also has the distinct advantage of lasting a very long time – 25, 30 or even 40 years is not uncommon. Compare that to ‘modern’ treated, soft-wood fencing!

The Woodland Trust have some further information here

If you would like to discuss putting up some Castanea sativa (Sweet Chestnut) fencing give us a call – 01984 667697

Why are we counting?

This important initiative offers a simple means of recording the effect of any conservation schemes currently being initiated by farmers and gamekeepers on their land such as supplementary feeding or growing wild bird seed crops and game cover crops.
It is also a useful way of gaining personal insight on how well their birds are faring. Jim Egan, Head of Development and Training at our Allerton Project explains why conducting the count is so important:

“Farmers and gamekeepers are vital in helping to ensure the future survival of many of our most cherished farmland bird species such as skylark, yellowhammer, corn buntings and wild grey partridges. They are responsible for managing the largest songbird habitat in this country on their land but frequently their efforts to reverse bird declines are largely unrecorded. We believe our Big Farmland Bird Count will help remedy this, particularly as our earlier pilot count showed such encouraging results. ”

“Over the last 21 years researchers at our Allerton Project farm in Leicestershire have gained a great understanding of the needs of farmland game and wildlife. Their work has demonstrated the combined benefits of habitat management, winter feeding for birds and targeted legal predator control in the breeding season. We have also come to understand the benefits that can be gained from long term monitoring of bird numbers in order to identify trends in wildlife populations.”

“We understand the crucial role that farmers and gamekeepers play in the survival of farmland birds and we want to give them an opportunity of showing what their conservation efforts deliver on the ground. It is also a satisfying way for people to discover the different range of birds that are on the farm and the results can be surprising. We hope it will spur people on to do even more work for their farmland birds in the future and will act as a catalyst for them to start building their own long standing wildlife records. ”

To take part, and for more information, please click here

We may all be aware or have heard that land is easily compacted by vehicular, stock and even human traffic. But why is this of concern?

It is very easy to ignore what’s going on in the soil – ‘out of sight, out of mind’ so to speak. But just like the foundations of a well-constructed house, or perhaps like the proverbial iceberg, what goes on ‘out of sight’ is of essential importance.

All plants, and in particular grasses require strong, sturdy roots to enable them to access nutrients and of course to anchor them to the ground. Regular aerating will encourage root growth and strength and help maximise root volume. And this is important as the more numerous, deep and strong the roots, the better the grass can access nutrients, and withstand both drought and flood. Aerating will also allow oxygen to penetrate down deep into the soil, and this encourages all the macro and micro-bacterial activity that keeps the whole eco-system that is soil in good heart.

As one horse livery owner, and a friend of GreenPaddocks, always says “if there was only one job I can do every year – it would be aerating: our paddocks have improved immeasurably since we started to aerate”.

Vital checklist from my Agronomist:

1. Aerating should be part of regular routine maintenance, not a question of shall we/shan’t we aerate this year.

2. Far more important to aerate than roll.

3. Helps create a denser sward which makes sure more water goes where it is needed – the grass roots.

4. Environmentally a good thing to do too as it reduces run-off – so less phosphate etc. goes into water courses (run-off being a big environmental problem as a whole).

5. A denser sward means that it is stronger and better able to withstand the punishment meted out by our equine friends…horses are notoriously bad for grassland – churning it up, compacting it, grazing it too tight and generally making a mess – allowing pernicious weeds to establish.

6. Proper regular maintenance = better/stronger grass = fewer weeds and a more robust, attractive environment.

All grasses in the UK share common characteristics in their growth patterns and barely grow at all when the temperature dips below 5°C. Conversely, it grows vigorously during warm and wet conditions, typical of the spring and early summer.

Good grassland management sits at the heart of healthy utilisation and production of grass and formal management of it here in the UK can be traced back to the Stone Age, as farmers toiled to convert grass into useful end products like meat and milk.

Whilst writing up my recommendations for a client in Dorset who shares my passion for sustainability, I was reminded of an article I read about recently unveiled plans to transform a dull strip of grassland into a vibrant ecology zone on Rossall seafront in Lancashire.

The draft plans include the sensitive construction of extensive pathways and viewing areas surrounded by swathes of flora and fauna. There will be a meandering water channel with a reed bed habitat which will teem with life in no time and there will also be a safe habitat created for lizards, a common inhabitant of the area. This biodiverse project is part of Wyre Council’s Five for Fleetwood scheme which is estimated to come in at around £1.5m and Balfour Beatty are hoping to start work on it at the end of 2015.

The strip of grassland from West Way to Fairway is already classed as a biological heritage site due to the rare plants that flourish there but with the new development, it will be redesigned to be a more attractive, vibrant feature and that allows people to get closer to nature.

Plans for the development were displayed recently at a local community centre and the public were invited to give their comments. A spokesperson from the council commented,

Feedback was very positive and the main feeling was it will be an improvement on what’s there now. People were also very helpful in giving their views on things like the inclusion of benches and shelters and what materials they should be made of. All these views will be incorporated into the next stage of designs.

To read the story in full, visit FleetwoodToday.co.uk and for grassland management advice for your paddocks and estate, drop us a line and we’ll get right back to you.

The Team

Spraying_01

When it comes to weeds, the word we use is ‘control’ not ‘kill’. This is not to be obscure or clever, simply a statement of fact, as herbicides will only act on the weeds that are there – at the right growth stage – at that moment in time.

Modern herbicides are very safe on grass, and very efficient at controlling weeds. We can target specific weeds, if one type dominates, or try to clean up a variety with an appropriate range of herbicides.

Right for spraying

Got any of these chaps in your fields? If  they are looking like the image on the left now is the time to spray them.  This time of year they look healthy, not old and damaged and purple/brown in colour as when they age or get ramularia (leaf spot fungus) they don’t take up the herbicides so well so control is much less effective.

If you have livestock grazing be warned that excessive quantities of docks in the diet can cause dietary upsets, especially in young animals. When fields become infested with docks, the available grazing is reduced, which then impacts on the planned grazing cycle.

They are the most pernicious and damaging of all grassland weeds with more than 15% of productive grassland having a serious dock infestation. Docks compete with grass for light, nutrients and moisture thus reducing grass yields.  Docks have only 65% of the feed value of grass and are unpalatable. In general, animals will only eat them if there is nothing else available.

So, now is the time to get rid of them to ensure you have healthy, productive pasture throughout the season.

With all the planetary changes that take place in our ever moving annual calendar and with recent shifts in our climate, I’d been pondering precisely when spring had actually sprung!

My interest on the topic was piqued further as I read in today’s Environment Blog in the Guardian that spring has been arriving far earlier than the equinox has announced, for some time.

This year, the 20th March marked that poignant moment in the astronomical calendar of seasons. Along with the autumn equinox, it significantly celebrates two days where there are almost equal amounts of sun and moonlight; truly balanced days indeed.

Apparently, the Met Office work to a completely different system and are led by date and temperature. They peg the date to a fixed (fence) post and proudly declare the beginning of spring is in fact the 1st March.

As our strange and relatively mild winter of 2013 forgot to send the ground to sleep with more usual chilly temperatures, the inevitable life burst forth far quicker than in other years, which made the arrival of the official equinox look like it was late getting to the party.

With meteorological volatility being the unquestionable order of the day it seems, perhaps we might have more luck predicting it’s arrival by quizzing our friends in Pennsylvania about the emergence of their beloved groundhog. If it is cloudy when the groundhog pops out from its winter rest, then spring will come early and if it’s sunny, the groundhog will see its own shadow and retreat back into the burrow and the chilly winter weather will carry on for a further 6 weeks.

I suspect it’s as good a method as any and alongside many other old wives tales, it will give us something to talk about as we get on with the necessary business of bowing to Mother Nature as she yawns and wakes up the weeds on our lawns!

If you’d like to read the the article I mentioned above, please click here and as a parting thought, it really is a good time to think about what’s required to maintain your grassland to keep it at optimum efficiency and beauty. If you’d like to look at our recommendations for the spring, click here.

Hugh describes being ‘attacked’ by a giant hogweed. Following the altercation with this toxic, ancient specimen, the poor man’s knee broke out into the most dreadful blister and left him needing to seek the services of a skin specialist.

They informed him that the sap of this vociferous botanical specimen is phytophototoxic and when it comes into contact with our delicate frame it affects the skin’s ability to absorb UV and often leaves you with enormous, localised sunburn.

Twenty years on from this clearly memorable experience, the poor man still bears the scar!

If you do come into contact with the sap of the giant hogweed,  your skin will redden initially then begin to itch. Blisters will form and a fierce burning sensation will spread throughout the affected area within around 48 hours.  Even the smallest quantity of sap in the eye area can lead to temporary and in some cases, permanent blindness and hospitalisation may well be necessary.

As if things couldn’t get any worse, the blisters will eventually morph into a black or purplish scar that is likely to be visible for many years.

If you have clumps of this unforgiving plant on your grassland, it is in your best interests (and those of your livestock) to take stringent matters to eradicate it safely and swiftly; we can help and it won’t cost you a scarred arm or a leg either.