Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2016 | Page 78

Country life

Countryside news
By Tony Ridd

A COUNTRYMANS DIARY
The last two months seem to have flown by and the
weather has generally been unseasonably kind to
us! There have been times when I was hoping for
rain as we have continued to plant trees and hedges
throughout the early summer, all heavily mulched so
as to retain any moisture that rises from the ground.
We are real advocates of mulching, as it not only helps
suppress the weeds, but plants also establish far more
quickly, giving you a better result for all your hard work.
We recently started a new project for Gift to Nature,
helping to improve Pan Mill Meadows Reserve, one
of the sites they manage on the island. It runs along
the river Medina, from Matalan to Shide, and is a busy
footpath/cycleway. We will be restoring the meadow
at the Shide end by mowing the grass and removing
some of the trees, it is then hoped, that they will be
able to get sheep grazing here once again. Towards
the town and the central section, there are some
leaning trees as a result of heavy flooding in 2012
and these will be coppiced. The existing woodland
path that runs around the back of the reserve will be
improved to allow better access in the wetter months.
If you haven’t found this site yet, it is worth seeking
out and enjoying this little oasis, a stones throw from
the centre of town.
Traditionally we would hit a quiet patch at the end
of April, but the flexibility of our work now keeps
us busy through most of the summer. Along with
our timber extraction from woodlands, clients are
wanting to create and enhance wildlife habitats at
their homes, and as the ground begins to dry out,
we can move into their gardens. Ponds, jetties and
‘dipping platforms’ are a good place to start as not
only does the water invite a mass of different wildlife,
but the surrounding habitat that can be created
encourages all sorts of flora and other creatures. It is
wonderful how quickly nature colonises new habitats
with even the smallest of spaces attracting some
interesting new visitors.
This is also a good time of year to carry out wildlife

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surveys, to see if the work we have been doing is
making a difference to their habitats. All species tend
to have a favoured environment and although we
cannot dictate the weather we can try to create good
biodiversity to encourage and help a wide range of
different species. I was recently invited along to watch
a moth hunt at Briddlesford Copse to see if the work
we have been carrying out over the years is suiting
them. Although the evening was perfectly still and
warm, conditions were not perfect for hunting, but
we did catch over 40 species with some uncommon
and interesting moths turning up. Although not
as brightly coloured as their day counterparts,
butterflies, they were still very beautiful with some,
the Green Silver-line and Orange moth’s being my
evening favourites.

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