The Deanery Meadow Trial
If you think the flowers look a bit trampled in the Charnel House in the Gt Churchyard this week, they have been! That’s because we harvested plants with ripe seed from the Charnel House and laid the stalks as “green hay” on a small section of the area we’ve dubbed ‘Deanery Meadow’ (thanks to the Dean for the suggestion) – between the Deanery and old courthouse. We have adopted the section with the blessing of West Suffolk Council (WSC), as a trial to see if we can establish wildflowers and greater biodiversity there.
This week, with the heat rising, more seed will be ready to harvest until all the seed we need is moved. The Charnel House compound is certainly the most floristically rich area, bee orchids have been found there in the past. Everything will eventually be mown and taken away, as this ensures that nutrients aren’t left in situ to fertilise the ground, which in turn encourages vigorous plants and growth instead of delicate wildflowers. The lower the nutrient level in the soil, the more likely a good diversity of plants will thrive. Chalk grasslands, one of the most nutrient depleted habitats in the wild, is known for its richness of species precisely because no one species can take over on the impoverished soil.
For the Deanery Meadow trial, WSC first mowed the whole area, then our volunteers then spent a happy hour raking away the arisings from the trial section, i.e. the cut vegetation. We then mowed it again a couple of weeks later using a mower with a bucket to take more arisings away, and finally a third time so that as much loose vegetation or ‘thatch’ was removed as possible. The result is lots of bare patches on which the green hay was laid. It is true that bare patches lose carbon more readily but once the meadow is growing, there will be fewer of these carbon emitters. Future droughts are an important consideration with climate change and the best way to protect grassland from the ravages of drought is to keep the soil well covered with taller vegetation. This is what we are aiming for in future years but also a richer diversity of plant species to attract more wildlife and human interest alike. Finally we sowed some yellow rattle seed, known as the Meadow Maker, so called because of its semi parasitic nature towards grass, helping to keep it less vigorous. Job done for the time being.
Photos: BWMG
