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Assessing the
existing plants in the SSSI garden
Whilst the woodland and
purple moorgrass mire are the two most important habitats on our client's land,
there are other important habitats that require careful maintenance.
There are species rich ancient hedgerows, there is a large pond and the
site has areas of gorse & bramble scrub, together with dry grassland. All
these add interest to the site - but all provide extra work in preventing
species which can become dominant from doing just that. |
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Ungrazed areas develop into
alder woodland where sallow and ash are the commonest associated trees. The
ground flora of one wooded area is dominated by greater tussock sedge. This
type of woodland is one of the most uncommon in Britain. |
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The land is extremely wet and
is located on spring lines at the geological interface of the pervious clay
with flints and greensand overlying impervious Jurassic rocks. The beehives on
the high part are on the wettest land. |
An additional view of the
Greater Tussock Sedge that dominates the floor of the alder, sallow and ash
woodland. This photo does not give a true impression of the height of these
clumps - some are as high as five feet. You can just see a foxglove behind the
clump, which gives an idea of scale. |
