Gardens in the Wild Festival Herefordshire 2016

This year we are working with the Herefordshire Wildlife Trust and the Herefordshire Meadows Group at The Birches Farm,
a traditionally managed farm and site of special scientific interest owned by the Trust.

Saturday’s events will run from 10am – 4pm to include scything courses, tool care, talks and guided walks through meadows flourishing with orchids.

The afternoon will end with a demonstration of line scything and maybe some stook building and box baling: a chance to see how it was done in times past.

There will be stalls selling tools, wild plants, seeds and delicious local food so you can take a picnic to eat at a spot with views over the Black Mountains.

This event will be part of the UK National Meadows Day.

Entrance to the site is free. Parking £5.

How to encourage your meadows to flower and flourish. Whether creating a meadow from scratch or restoring and enhancing grassland for wildlife there are many things that affect
the quality and quantity of wildflowers and other wildlife. Caroline Hanks a local farm conservation adviser and member of the Herefordshire Meadows Network will give a talk for land owners and those interested in practical tips about meadow management. Bring your questions along. There will also be an opportunity to identify some grassland plants on display.

No booking required. Donations welcome on the day

Maximum 15 people

Moseley Common lies alongside the Curl Brook in West Herefordshire. It is one of the few areas of marshland in the county to have survived the effects of modern agricultural improvements and drainage. The botanical interest of the site has been known since the 19th Century. Over 120 plants have been found on the site, including a number of species now rare or uncommon
in Herefordshire.

The wetter low-lying parts of the marsh are dominated by sedge communities. Other plants associated with these communities are yellow iris, marsh thistle, brooklime, common
marsh-bedstraw, marsh valerian and marsh horsetail. Bog pimpernel and marsh arrowgrass, both rare species in Herefordshire, occur where bare peaty soil is exposed.
Other plants occurring here include sneezewort, creeping jenny, square-stalked St John’s-wort and devil’s bit scabious. The rarer species include bogbean and marsh helleborine.

Cost: £5

Maximum 15 people

This reserve lies in the flood plain of the River Wye at the western edge of a low-lying basin known as Letton Lakes. This entire area is flooded every winter when the water levels rise in a nearby river, enriching the grassland soils. The reserve comprises a complex mosaic of grassland and wetland communities. Meadow-sweet, lesser-pond rush and pepper saxifrage can be seen at various areas throughout. In the summer Dyers Greenweed and Great Burnet are visible amongst the grass. There is a wide variety of birds species here throughout the year.

Cost: £5

Maximum 15 people

Colin and Anne Boylett bought Pound Farm in 2000. It had been farmed by the Mainwaring family since the 1920s and the last of the line, Bill Mainwaring, did not embrace modern farming methods. He used no fertilisers or pesticides and, as he grew old, he did less and less. A few sheep continued to graze and a little hay was made. The hedges grew untouched for forty years up to his death. The farm was overgrown and run down when the Boyletts bought it but it was at the same time a treasure trove of wild flower fields and they immediately put it into a Countryside Stewardship Scheme. Some hedges were restored and the fields were brought back into careful traditional management preserving the rich wild flowers. There are now orchids in every field on the farm. Cowslips, marsh marigold, ragged robin and yellow rattle are among a long list of flowers present.

Cost: £5