Flora at Beer Mill Farm

Restoring the ancient hedgerows. More

Excavating ponds with marsh margins.

Encouraging wild plants by not using fertilisers in the hay meadows.

Carrying out a tree planting programme. More

Leaving hay cutting as late as possible to encourage natural seeding

Pollarding overgrown Willow trees along the river bank

Leaving wild margins around the field edges.

This page under construction

Most of the soil on the the farm is quite heavy clay but the land alongside the river is clay over alluvial gravel which drains very quickly.

When we arrived, trees were confined to the perimiter boundaries and the river bank but we are gradually planting more within the farm. Along the river bank there are a number of mature Willows, some Field Maples, Sycamore and Walnut. The field margins contain a few mature Oaks, Ash, Field Maples and of course Willows. There are many Wych Elms but sadly as they grow they always fall prey to Dutch Elm Disease.

We have started a tree planting programme and have put in Oaks, Wild Cherry, Ash, Field Maples, Wild Service Trees and a number of Apples in various locations.

Hedges are an incredibly valuable resource for encouraging wildlife. They can provide enormous amounts of food and shelter and act as corridors for safe transit for many creatures from one area to another. They also create micro climates to encourage wild flowers of many types.

Our northern boundary fence which is about three quarters of a mile long, forms the Parish boundary and is hundreds of years old. It has a rich variety of plants within it. The internal hedges are not as old but are shown on maps in the early 1800s.

All the hedges on the farm had been very neglected. They had obviously been flailed (cut with a machine) quite hard until some years ago and then allowed to grow unmanaged.

It is of course tempting not to manage the hedges at all but after a while they either become very open at the base as all the plants grow upwards or they effectively become ever widening strips of scrub woodland. The weaker plants die and the wild flowers will not germinate in the dark conditions created.

Rather than trying to manage all the hedges by cutting them every year, we have embarked on gradual programme of hedge laying some sections and cutting the rest on a three year rotation. The hedges which are not laid by hand are divided into three sections and only one section will be cut each year so each area of hedge is allowed to grow for three years. At any one time there will be hedges of different stages of growth all over the farm. This ensures a steady food supply for birds and insects. As more of the hedges are laid we will have less cutting by machinery.

The timing of any hedge work is important. Hedge laying is carried out from October to February and cutting by machine is done either in early autumn or during the winter. However we are reluctant to cut during the wet winter months as the heavy machinery can damage the fields.

Cutting during the spring and summer causes huge damage to nesting birds and equally importantly their food supplies of berries and insects.

To be expanded...............................