This post contains botany data gathered on Ingleby Clay from autumn 2019 until autumn 2023.
Contents:
1. INTRODUCTION
The field shortly before our purchase
Shortly after purchase
Surface details
2. BOUNDARY HEDGE TREES & ASSOCIATED SPECIES
Hedge notes
Fruit trees yet to be positively identified
Hedge management
Wild privet
Purging buckthorn
Ash & Field maple
Willow
Dogwood
Spurge laurel
Field rose
Elder
3. NEW TREES
Under starters orders
Tree planting
Small scale tree planting
Regeneration trees
4. NEW HEDGES
The community hedges 2020
Hugh’s Hedge
5. WILDFLOWERS & GRASSES
Groundcover seed mix
Planted wildflowers
Hand-scattered seeds
Natural colonisation
Pond and drawdown zone
6. BOTANY SURVEYS 2023
Ingleby Clay plant survey data 2023
1. INTRODUCTION
The field shortly before our purchase
We first visited the field (now Ingleby Clay) on 23 Aug 2019, and walked around the perimeter. The field was wall to wall wheat, enclosed in a tall hedge.
Tim Russon, an agricultural contractor-cum-entrepreneur, who harvests the Ingleby Clay meadows each summer, tells us that our predecessor tended to use herbicides sparingly.
The mature cowslip and musk mallow patches which appeared in the field in spring 2020, bore this out.
The way they withstood ploughing is extraordinary.
The flailing of the hedges, although typically crude, had not been particularly severe.
Almost five years after leaving the auction house with empty pockets, we consider the field to be an absolute gem.
Its flora is the lynchpin.
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Shortly after purchase
We ploughed and tilled Hardwick Scrub, but here on Ingleby Clay we left large tracts of land as they were, deeply rutted.
This approach preserves the inadvertent microhabitats, which in winter form a network of miniature canals, presumably with benefits to both flora and fauna.
As the field evolves, plants are following the course of the ruts, forming definite lines.
invisible
Nov 2019
space
Surface details
The field was wheat stubble when we acquired the land on 18 Sept 2019. However, by mid-November the tide was turning. Here are a few examples of what we were seeing:
Middle row: fallen leaves of ash + field maple suggest where to expect seedling trees. Bulrush in the ditch in the south west of the field are perhaps responsible for the bulrush now growing in the pond. Bramble already spreading outward from the hedge.
Bottom row: feral wheat threatened to be trouble, but in fact fed the birds the following winter then declined rapidly.
Here we see several species reclaiming the land within a few months of harvest – the early stages of natural regeneration, or self-evolution, as we prefer.
For a while we sat on our hands and left the field to evolve in any way it chose, while we turned our attention to the boundary hedge.
2. BOUNDARY HEDGE TREES & ASSOCIATED SPECIES
Hedge notes
With the exception of a few honeysuckle, which appear to have perished, we have not added any trees or other species to the boundary hedge. So all the species on the above list were growing in the boundary hedge when we acquired the field in autumn 2019.
The hedge is chiefly blackthorn and hawthorn, punctuated with ash and field maple trees. Secondary species include bramble, ivy, and dog rose, which help to knit things together.
Some species appear to be at least a century old, perhaps dating back to the Enclosure Act of the early 1800s, or even further back.
Layering has been carried out in small sections of the hedge, mainly to hawthorn and apple (south side of field) but also to ash (east side of lower parcel of field). This appears to date back a great many years.
Fruit trees yet to be positively identified
There are two apple trees. One in the south hedge, the other in the west hedge in the lower parcel of the field. Paul Kirby has described one as a crab apple and the other simply as an apple. Clarification is awaited.
What we refer to as ‘bullace’ is growing in the north hedge of the lower parcel of the field, at the east end, and nearby in the east hedge. It mostly merges with blackthorn.
What we refer to as ‘cherry plum’ is a single tree which we became aware of in winter 2021, when it was a small sapling. It grows in the north west corner of the field, and flowers in early March.
Hedge management
We are allowing the boundary hedge to sprawl out into the field, with minimal intervention. We actively encourage bramble and blackthorn to swell out in specific zones. In Feb 2022 we designated these zones as ‘bramble sanctuaries’ and ‘blackthorn bulges’.
Each winter small work parties tackle the bramble, cutting back and pulling up runners which are heading into the field outside of the sanctuary zones. This is to give less vigorous species an opportunity to become established. In winter 2023-24 the field was too waterlogged for group bramble-management sessions to be carried out.
The blackthorn management in the boundary hedge commenced in Feb 2020 and has been ongoing since. A range of methods have been applied, including lopping to ground level, coppicing, and crude layering. Waste material is fed back into the hedge bottom as ‘dead hedging’ – on one occasion to thwart a roe deer path in a sensitive area (wild privet zone).
Photo – 14 March 2020
As a rule, no blackthorn have been planted on the community nature sites, due to their invasive habit and in Ingleby Clay’s case, their natural abundance. However, 500 free trees we received from the Woodland Trust in the winter of 2022-23 included 50 blackthorn, which rather than discard, we planted outward of the existing blackthorn bulges.
Other species prioritised over blackthorn include elder, dogwood, apple, willow, and ash (saplings).
Wild privet
We are fairly ruthless with blackthorn, especially where it is overshadowing scarcer species. We have lopped the lanky blackthorn on the east side of Long Meadow, towards the top of the field, on several occasions, to liberate thickets of wild privet struggling to contend with the blackthorn, which we believe is fairly newly arrived. It is hoped the privet will spread outward and form domes in the field. A smaller privet thicket occurs in the north east corner of the lower parcel of the field, where we have also hacked back the blackthorn to allow the privet breathing space in which to expand.
On occasion, we have exercised restraint when cutting back blackthorn, mindful that it offers protection to other species against browsing by roe deer.
Purging buckthorn
Purging (common) buckthorn occurs in three places on the east of the lower parcel of the field. The most southerly tree is shown above.
The other two trees are responding positively to our management of the adjacent hedgerow. It is mostly blackthorn that we chop back (saw/lop).
Photos 02. 02. 2020
Ash & Field maple
which collapsed in February 2020
The tallest trees in the boundary hedge are ash and field maple, which occur fairly regularly around the perimeter of the field. The most prominent tree in the field (on the north of the lower parcel of the field, at the west end of the hedge) we call the ‘Iconic Ash’. In view of the threat posed by ‘ash-dieback disease’, several ash trees have been under-planted with oak trees, especially those to the east of the pond.
In June 2020, a tall ash tree in the north east corner of the field fell down in its entirety. This was a neighbouring landowner’s tree, but where the tree fell into our land, it has been left in situ to decay naturally. In Feb 2020, following strong winds, the main trunk of a mature ash tree to the west of Long Meadow collapsed and was left in situ. In Jan 2021, a dead trunk from an old ash at the bottom of the field, near the information boards, was felled and cut into logs by Damian from Springwood Tree Services, and stacked in the nearby hedge.
A slight curiosity occurs at the bottom of the field, where a line of field maple are growing at the density of a newly planted hedge, but had been left to grow as spindly trees. We tried layering a couple of them, but the trunks snapped, so we are leaving them to do their own thing. They have thickened up a lot since this photo was taken.
Another sample of quirkiness is this lone hawthorn growing towards the bottom of the field on the east side. For reasons lost to time, the hedge is gap-toothed here and there. We have no desire to plug the gaps ourselves, preferring to discover what nature decides upon.
Willow
To our surprise willow was virtually absent from the boundary hedge in 2019, with just two trees located. They are more or less opposite each other towards the north end of Long Meadow. One is goat willow, according to Paul Kirby, the other grey willow. The eastern willow grows in the ditch and appears to be longer established than the western willow, which is growing happily among bramble. Scores of self-seeded willow are now growing in the field, favouring the west side – probably due to the close proximity of willow growing on the railway embankment.
Dan Johnson, from the nearby Railway Cottages, planted a couple of willow near to the entrance of the field in winter 2020/21. One was a thick branch cut from a tree in a garden on Thorpe Lane between Sturton by Stow and Thorpe in the Fallows. Along with several other branches, Dan stuck it in the ground to mark the boundary of his ‘willow patch’. Most of the fence posts budded up, but only this one put down significant roots. The willow patch did not materialise (with the exception of a small willow from Dan’s garden, and a rowan).
Dogwood
Dogwood only occurs in a single clump at the bottom of the field, to the south west of the pond. The hedge here is low and thin. There are some ancient layered hawthorn, along with what appear to be fairly recent introductions. The neighbouring landowner cuts the dogwood enthusiastically, but in time, with our encouragement, we expect it to expand into the field.
Spurge Laurel
Only found to the east of Long Meadow. Although the shrubs are increasing in size and number, they have yet to show signs of expanding their range.
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Field rose
Far less prevalent than dog rose, one confirmed sample grows to the east of the pond, close to the field corner.
Elder
Is fairly abundant in the hedgerow, but generally looks tired. Flowers and berries are few. A clump of maybe 20 saplings have self-seeded at the bottom of the field, to the west of the entrance.
3. NEW TREES
Under starters orders
Soon after acquiring the field, in Nov 2019 we dug up some self-seeded saplings from our garden and planted them on Ingleby Clay, to see how they fared, prior to mapping out the site. The land was wheat stubble at the time.
Between Jan and March 2020 we planted about 130 experimental bare-rooted trees sourced from both our wildlife garden and a tree nursery. The species included alder, hawthorn, hornbeam, oak, spindle, dogwood, and silver birch.
The land became pretty waterlogged in late winter and virtually all these trees perished.
We planted approximately 35 saplings, consisting of alder, dogwood, oak, spindle, and silver birch. It was a wet winter, the trees stood in water for long periods. Every tree perished apart from a couple of spindle.
In March 2020 we planted 100 bare-rooted whips which consisted of alder, hawthorn, oak and hornbeam, 25 of each species. Three trees of each species have survived up until now (June 2024).
On 10 Aug 2020, James (from P. Russon & Sons, Burton) mowed the vegetation on the parcel of land allotted to become woodland, and the route of the paths:
On 17 Aug 2020 Richard (from P. Russon & Sons, Burton) deep ploughed the woodland parcel and lightly ploughed and tilled the routes of the pathways.
Maybe if we had our time again, we would not plough the woodland site, but leave the soil intact. However, we were keen to break up the compacted clay to give the roots a better chance of penetrating the subsoil and tapping into moisture. Drought was a big concern.
Retaining the structure of the soil might have been a better approach, but this was a field which had been ploughed annually since the 1960s, so a permaculture approach would have only advanced what is a long process by one year.
These areas were then sown with the grass and wildflower seed mix CSS3, supplied by Boston Seeds.
We had hoped to carry out large-scale, commercial tree planting on Ingleby Clay in January 2020,
We had hoped to carry out large-scale, commercial tree planting on Ingleby Clay in Jan 2020, but conditions were too wet, and we postponed this planting scheme until Nov 2020, when Aveland Trees (a nursery from Dunsby near Bourne, who specialise in growing and planting native trees) planted the following:
The trees were planted in a spiral, as suggested by the nurseryman Hugh Dorrington (of Aveland Trees, Dunsby, near Bourne), to avoid straight lines.
The spiral groove, cut by a tractor and tine, was several centimetres deep. The wooden stakes were then inserted into the groove.
We objected to the stakes being placed in a trench which would collect water, rot the stake, and drown the tree. Following debate, the stakes were relocated outside the groove, which went on to gather and hold water for many months over successive winters. Another reason to avoid planting trees in a groove on clay soil, is that the groove opens up as a wide crack in the summer months, exposing the tree roots.
The survival rate after one year was 76%. We replaced most of the casualties with trees from various sources, some from our garden (bare-rooted seedlings), some cell-grown from Cheviot Trees, and some bare-rooted from elsewhere.
By Spring 2024, following an exceedingly wet winter and early spring, there are approximately 400 trees still alive.
We currently consider this to be a sufficient number of trees. We might replace species which have suffered disproportionate losses, or accept that the site is not congenial to their requirements.
One problem we face is the uncertainty of future weather patterns. It might be that the roots of some of the newly-planted trees were still too shallow to withstand six months of waterlogging. If this was the case, we might take a chance on the weather and try again.
Oak, which put down a deep tap root early in their development, have a high success rate.
We have suffered high mortality rates with the alder and willow (trees usually tolerant of wet conditions) which have been planted, whereas self-seeded willow grow well.
Deer are a constant menace, eating foliage and stripping bark. It seems some deer have learned how to remove tubing. However, the 1.2 metre tree guards, attached to wooden stakes, usually provide adequate protection against browsing by roe deer.
On the downside, voles regularly make nests in the Tubex tubes, and during their occupancy nibble through the trunks of the saplings. Winter 2023-24 saw a ‘population explosion’ of vole nests inside tree guards. This was almost certainly due to their underground burrows being flooded. It is hoped, at least in some cases, that fresh growth will generate from the roots.
Small scale tree planting
In December 2020 we personally planted 60 oak, 50 rowan, and 50 hawthorn – all cell-grown from Cheviot Trees. Unlike our earlier attempts, most of these trees survived and still appear content with the conditions. The rowan and oak are protected in 1.2 m tree guards. Hawthorn seem able to make do with 60 cm tubes. They are often nibbled, sometimes have bark stripped from their branches and trunks, but mostly bounce back with vigour.
In March 2021 we planted 4 dog rose and 20 hawthorn cell-grown trees, which did well. These trees, and those mentioned in the above paragraph grow mostly in West Scrub, or in ‘The Avenue’ (which is situated along the south border of Excavation Meadow).
In November 2021 we replaced some of the casualties in the woodland with saplings grown from seed at home (crab apple and wild pear), and trees surplus to planting schemes on Hardwick Scrub, which included 10 silver birch, 3 privet, 6 hazel, 3 alder, 8 holly, 10 hawthorn, and 6 willow, and a few elder, hornbeam, and donated walnut.
Keeping accurate records of which individual trees live or die in the confusing spiral layout in the woodland is almost impossible, especially when redundant stakes are removed and vegetation becomes challenging to walk through.
Our main objective is to not waste any 1.2 m tree guards. They come at a cost to the environment, and we aim to keep them in active duty.
In Dec 2021 we planted 20 hawthorn, 6 spindle, and 6 guelder rose, which were surplus from a planting scheme at Saxilby Community Wood. Generally, these species grow well on our clay soil.
In Feb 2023, Ian Wilson and Ross removed some trees from the woodland to create a tractor trail, which we call Ian’s Way, providing tractors with easy access to both meadows and thereby protecting the footpaths.
The trees we removed were replanted in ‘The Avenue’ and in three small spinneys towards the top of Excavation Meadow. The species planted in these spinneys included hawthorn, rowan, dogwood, hazel, and crab apple. Their survival rate was remarkably high.
Regeneration trees
Unlike Hardwick Scrub, where self-set trees are bizarrely non-existent, Ingleby Clay grows them for fun.
The most prolific self-set trees are: ash, field maple, willow, hawthorn, and dog rose, while blackthorn and elder have formed clumps close to the field entrance.
The tallest ash are now waist height. They grow in swathes. Field maple are mostly less than knee height. Willow we believe are arriving from the nearby railway embankment. Hawthorn are also now approaching knee height. Dog rose are springing up all across the field.
These species seem able to withstand browsing by roe deer and other mammals, although some willow succumb to debarking, and at times the tips of ash are nibbled.
4. NEW HEDGES
The Community Hedges 2020
During the Covid-19 lockdowns of autumn 2020, forty volunteers from the local community planted two community hedges. The tree-planters arrived one family at a time, over a period of many days.
The first community hedge was planted in November. It was located along the north and east boundaries of the woodland, and included nine species of trees, over half of which were hawthorn – as per the list below.
Due to popular demand, a second community hedge was planted a month later. This hedge consisted entirely of hawthorn, and was sited at the south west corner of the woodland.
These trees were all cell-grown by Cheviot Trees (Berwick-on-Tweed). We opted for cell-grown trees over bare-rooted whips as they have a longer ‘shelf-life’, require smaller planting holes, and their established root ball provides some protection against the perils of cracking clay.
The trees were planted in two staggered rows – 50 cm apart – using a planting aid like this one.
A tree is planted at each corner of the diamond, which is moved repeatedly along the line of the hedgerow.
The trees were planted in 60 cm Tubex plastic tree guards supported by canes.
The community hedges have been really successful, with a high survival rate. Weed-killer was applied to create planting strips for the hedges, but virtually no aftercare has been provided since, other than cane replacement here and there.
One summer, cleavers swamped the N/E hedge, and the following summer thistles did the same, and yet the hedge thrived, perhaps due in part to the protection provided by the other vegetation against browsing by roe deer.
Willowherb have performed a similar function for the community hedge at the S/W corner of the woodland. Fortunately waterlogging has not been an issue, as both hedges grow outside of the wettest areas of the field.
Hugh’s Hedge
Hugh’s Hedge was planted by Joe and Chris from Aveland Trees, vaguely in the shape of an H as a tribute to Hugh Dorrington. Two parallel hedges were planted, on either side of the western pathway. Surplus trees formed a single file hedge alongside a nearby pathway.
These trees consisted of eleven species, all bare-rooted whips. These too were placed in 60 cm Tubex plastic tree guards supported by canes.
It is hoped that hedging on the community nature sites will cope without taller tree guards. We would hate to resort to 1.2 m tree guards for hedging.
For additional data regarding the planting of trees on Ingleby Clay and Hardwick Scrub, please see our blog post: Trees – the story so far
5. WILDFLOWERS & GRASSES
Groundcover seed mix
To prepare the ground ahead of planting the woodland we wished to break up the compaction of the clay, so deep-ploughed down to the subsoil. The soil was then tilled and sown with the same grass and wildflower seed mix as used on Hardwick Scrub (CSS3 from Boston Seeds).
The work was carried out in Aug 2020, by agricultural contractor Tim Russon (P Russon and Sons, Burton), whose workforce nowadays cut the meadows annually in late summer and remove the hay.
At this stage, we also marked out the field pathways (lightly ploughed and tilled) and sowed them with the same seed mix – as detailed below:
Grasses:
30% Strong Creeping Red Fescue, 10.75% Chewing’s Fescue,
10% Hard Fescue, 10% Timothy, 10% Slender Creeping Red Fescue,
6% Smooth Stalk Meadow Grass, 4% Sheep’s Fescue, 0.5% Meadow Foxtail
Wildflowers:
5% Red Clover, 5% Sainfoin, 2.5% Alsike Clover, 1.5% Ribwort Plantain
1.5% Birdsfoot Trefoil, 0.75% Yarrow, 0.5% Selfheal, 0.5% Oxeye Daisy
0.5% Sheep’s Sorrel, 0.5% Lesser Knapweed, 0.5% Wild Carrot
Planted wildflowers
We take delight in seeing new plant species arrive naturally. However, there are various species which due to their absence in the local fields, are unlikely to arrive any time soon.
To give these species a helping hand, we planted one and a half thousand wildflower plugs over a three-year period. With a few exceptions, we divided these plants between Excavation Meadow and Long Meadow.
Here is a summary of what we planted:
The results have been woeful. Three small trial zones fared well, with most species surviving the first three winters, and promising to establish themselves.
Elsewhere, however, the vast majority seem to have perished, or at least are not yet visible to the roving eye. There are exceptions, of course, such as the odd devil’s-bit scabious, common knapweed, and betony, which we see occasionally.
It has to be said, that although few in number, there is a possibility that these hardy plants will spread across the meadows and throughout the field.
The reasons for the alarming failure rate are unclear. Wet winters could well be a significant factor, as wildflower plugs must struggle to cope with waterlogging before their roots have had a chance to infiltrate the clay.
It may be relevant that the wildflower plugs from Landlife (Kirton, Boston) have been more successful than those sourced from Naturescape (Langar, Notts).
In autumn 2023, we planted some wildflower plugs from Naturescape into the front verge at home. Here the soil is well drained sandy loam, and these plants are not now visible (June 2024). So, who knows, the flooded clay might not be such a significant factor after all.
We have yet to decide whether to continue planting wildflower plugs on Ingleby Clay, but we probably will. Once a meadow is established, the trials endured to achieve the objective would soon be forgotten.
For the record – typical conditions in which plugs were planted:
In due course, we will be publishing blog posts showing the flora and ground conditions of both meadows from 2019 onward, year by year.
Hand-scattered seeds
In autumn 2021 we scattered yellow rattle, common knapweed, and betony seed in small patches on both meadows. The yellow rattle grew well during spring/summer 2022 and self-seeded successfully in 2023. We are unsure how many knapweed and betony seeds germinated.
In autumn 2023 we sowed saw-wort, common sorrel, wild carrot, common knapweed, and yellow rattle in fairly small quantities on both meadows. Keith Stephenson, of Langton near Wragby, donated green-winged orchid seed, which we scattered on Long Meadow and Little Scrub Meadow.
Natural colonisation
The value of wheat to farmland birds
Worth a mention is the wheat which had been dropped during harvesting, which germinated and gave us a crop of feral wheat in summer 2020. We left all the vegetation uncut that autumn, which resulted in huge flocks of finches feeding in the field for many of the winter months.
Reed bunting and yellowhammer made up most of the flock, along with chaffinch, goldfinch, an occasional greenfinch, and house sparrow. The flocks sometimes comprised of 200 birds. They fed on the wheat, thistle, bristly ox-tongue and dock.
We have not seen flocks anywhere near this scale since.
Wildflower pioneers
Some attractive plants which have arrived in number are common fleabane, cowslip, common centaury, musk mallow, teasel, and hedge woundwort.
Fleabane grows on Little Scrub Meadow, Long Meadow and The Spoil. Cowslip was present in two patches among the stubble, having clearly withstood ploughing. It now grows throughout the field. Common centaury grows mostly in Little Scrub Meadow and the north end of Long Meadow, including on the paths.
Musk mallow grows mostly on the west side of Excavation Meadow, but is decreasing. Teasel grow on the west of the field in the vicinity of Hugh’s Hedge, and at the north east corner of the field. Hedge woundwort thrives at the north end of the field and on The Spoil.
Common centaury announced itself the first summer after harvest (2020). Initially restricted to Little Scrub Meadow, it has migrated into Long Meadow, and grows well on the mown path.
The ruderal plants which are appealing to wildlife, but perhaps less welcome during the process of creating meadows, include bristly ox-tongue, docks, thistles, willowherbs, and ragwort. Due to the presence of these plants in high numbers, the hay gathered from Ingleby Clay has to be burned as it is unsuitable for animal feed.
Pond and drawdown zone
The pond (dug in April 2021, see pond and beyond) was left to evolve naturally, without any intervention. The following plants had arrived by summer 2023.
6. BOTANY SURVEYS 2023
In April 2023 Dan Carne and Kimberley Parsons of the Woodmeadow Trust visited Ingleby Clay and Hardwick Scrub for a guided tour, during which they emphasised the value of gathering data.
Please note: The Woodmeadow Trust flagship site, Three Hagges Woodmeadow (between York and Selby), is now managed by Plantlife.
We sought guidance from Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, who recommended Paul Kirby, Brian Hedley and Tim Smith, all members of the Lincolnshire Naturalists’ Union (LNU), who very kindly volunteered their services FOC.
Tim focused on Saxilby Community Wood, while Brian and Paul provided the data on the list below:
A further member of LNU, Luke Hartley, is now (spring 2023) gathering plant data via a drone-mounted camera, and by grid sampling at ground level – all of which Luke refers to as biodiversity monitoring. Results are pending.
Saxilby Nature Project 