Blog by Sally. Photos by David and Sally
With the Red Course closed for maintenance this week, it was an ideal opportunity to carry out the autumn cut and rake of the vegetation on this side of Two Pines Fen. It was agreed that we could do this over a 3-day period. A total of 11 volunteers signed up to help, 8 of whom were Green Gymmers, and on the first day, we worked under the supervision of Dr Judy Webb, who is one of the ecology consultants specialising in calcareous fen management.
We started off with a surprisingly pleasant day weather-wise, as blog followers will recall that in recent years, we normally have to contend with "weather" - be it torrential rain, snow or the remnants of a hurricane.
Day 1 - 7 of us met in the Greenkeepers compound car park, including Judy and Rich and made our way to set up our base just under the men's 16th tee. The greenkeepers were out in force carrying out much-needed maintenance of the course following the drought. Two of us started scything the tall rank vegetation, including reed, whilst trying to avoid cutting the willow as the intention was to dig this out, so we tried to scythe around it. Simon seems to relish wielding a mattock for this task and set about digging out willow away from the reedy area where we were working. Meanwhile, Jim and Rich started cutting the tall reed along both sides of the stream before Adrian joined in to help. It's important to do this so that once it's raked up, there will be bare patches of earth for seeds to germinate and they will have the light they need. It also prevents nutrient build up as the smaller fen plants prefer it.
Unfortunately, Rod, who was working at Boundary House Fen ("BHF"), the bigger sister of Two Pines Fen, was unable to use his brushcutter, so he was able to join us and raked much of the tall cut reed into the stream, which has been dug out and is acting like a ditch, draining the fen. The cut vegetation will rot down over time and as the base of the stream rises, it will re-wet the fen. Once Rod was able to start brushcutting, his colleagues, Steve and Rory, were able to help with some raking as well until such time as they had enough work for them to return to BHF. We were grateful for the help, knowing that the forecast was not great for the next day.
We came across some wasp spiders' nests and a harvest mouse nest, as well as seeing lots of marsh pennywort, marsh helleborines (with relatively few seed pods), Grass of Parnassus and Devil's Bit Scabious in flower.
Approaching Two Pines Fen on the left, with the rank vegetation to Simon and Judy's left, as they assess what work needs to be done
Susan sharpening her scythe blade
Rich, Jim and Adrian scything the tall reed
Rod raking the tall reed into a need bundle piled into the stream, taking care to leave a gap by the track. The reed will rot down and build up the stream bed to help re-wet the Fen.
One of the willows which had been scythed around. This would be later dug up by Simon.
Work continues - Adrian, Rich and Jim scything while Steve rakes and trampolines down the cut reed into the stream
Steve raking in the background as Simon mattocks out a willow. It was impossible to get all the root out, but it will reduce its vigour and hopefully prevent the fen from turning into a wet woodland, as it is such a precious, rare habitat.
We call this "Judy's Moss Patch" - Judy used shears to carefully remove emerging rush and reed from around it. It's a rare sphagnum moss but unfortunately showed signs of attack by a badger no doubt after earthworms
Simon clearing cut vegetation almost as fast as Rich scythes it!
A heap of willow dug out by Simon. This would be taken away by the greenkeepers.
We made the most of the day, having seen the forecast for the following day, but took our customary breaks for Elevenses and lunch, which were very convivial. Rory joined us for the lunch break before dashing back to get working with Rod and Steve on BHF. Judy gave us instructions to cut carefully around the young tussocks of Black Bog Rush, her moss mound and to cut down marsh lousewort that had seeded. This was to be collected and she asked us to sow this in the area along the stream where the very tall reed had grown. Marsh Lousewort acts on reed in the same way that Yellow Rattle does on rye grass, in that it attacks the root system by sucking out sugars thereby suppressing the growth of the reed, reducing its vigour. It's an ecosystem engineer.
Day 2 - Six Green Gymmers turned out assisted by Richard and Kathy. Kathy joined us at lunchtime, by which time the rain had eased! Luckily for us, it was not torrential, but a steady shower. With the priority being to cut as much of the vegetation as possible and cut it low, the clearing up was left to Eleanor, who had joined us for the morning, and Simon. Kathy then relieved Eleanor, but with Barbara and David leaving at lunchtime, the number of scythers was reduced. With the comings and goings, lunchtime was a bit quieter as there were only four of us. Rod and Steve came to say "hello" and when I mentioned that some young Guelder Rose was to be dug up, Rod suggested that we keep it to one side so that it could be transplanted on Boundary House Fen. Simon, having spent so much time digging up willow, said he'd be happy to do this the next day. We had another productive day and achieved a lot between us. Jamie, the new Sustainability Officer for the Golf Club, was pleased with our progress.
David scything in the rain with the two Scot's pines giving the fen its name behind him
Jim and Barbara scything away
Barbara and Richard scything, as Simon clears by raking up the cut vegetation and heaping this to one side ready for the Greenkeepers to collect and take away
We left the site in sunshine! The rank vegetation in the foreground would be brushcut by Rod, ready for raking up in the morning.
Day 3 - Two Green Gymmers turned out first thing and ferried the tools to our base at the foot of the men's Red 16th tee. As we approached the Fen, we could see that Rod had lived up to his promise of brushcutting the vegetation, but it was going to be a tall order for the two of us to clear it away. Luckily, the Greenkeepers were on hand, and Leslie was able to rake up a lot of it for us. Using shears, we carefully cut around the black bog rush that is beginning to form tussocks. It was lovely to see the Grass of Parnassus and Devil's Bit Scabious in amongst it, as well as a few Marsh Helleborine and other orchid spikes bearing seeds. We thought we'd concentrate our efforts on finishing up on the "fine" side of the fen where most of the rare fen plants are to be found. Simon dug up the Guelder Rose and put this to one side. When Jamie came, we were able to ask him if he could please take this to Boundary House Fen, as Simon had dug out root balls making them heavy for us to carry, as well as taking us off Two Pines Fen, which Jamie was pleased to do. These can then be transplanted by Rod. We were also able to keep one of them as one of the Green Gymmers had said how much she loved Guelder Rose, but could not find them anywhere and she wanted one for her garden. So this would be a nice surprise for her! We were very relieved to see Adrian and then Kathy, not long after him, so our volunteer number had doubled! It was just the two of us at both break time and lunchtime and we were keen to get back to work - even though it would have been easy to lie back and bask in the sunshine!
The remainder of the vegetation was cut, taking care to keep marsh lousewort to one side for sowing later. It had been tricky to scythe the rush from around the Guelder Rose and the willow to make it easier for Simon to dig up, and we needed to go back to finish off scything these patches after he had done so. Our instructions from Judy were clear in that we had to cut as low as we could and as much as we could.
Jamie had asked if we had time to make a start clearing the vegetation in front of the ladies' 16th tee, which Adrian did and then Sally joined him, after she had replaced one or two of the broken canes marking out the moss patch and black bog rush. Simon and Kathy continued to clear up the brushcut vegetation from the other side of the stream. They disturbed some common lizards in the process. As we cut the mix of watermint and rush, we found an old field vole's nest and also came across a colourful caterpillar, which we think is that of a Knot Grass moth.
Once Simon and Kathy had finished clearing the cut vegetation, Adrian and Sally stopped scything and cleared up. Our last task was to sow the marsh lousewort. We hope the seeds take and look forward to returning to see their progress. We then made our way back to the cars. It was nice to be leaving the site with a couple of pairs of extra hands to help transport the tools!
Simon tackling a spread of sprouting willow growth
The black bog rush tussocks forming, marked out by canes
Leslie, one of the greenkeepers, coming to our assistance raking up the brushcut vegetation. A very welcome sight, indeed.
After lunch, Adrian on the left scything the vegetation in front of the ladies' Red 16th tee, as Kathy and Simon continue with clearing the brushcut vegetation on the other side of the stream
The clear up continues
The Red Course side of Two Pines Fen after our ministrations
Adrian rakes up the cut vegetation in front of the Ladies Red 16th Tee
Simon and Kathy spreading the Marsh Lousewort seeds. It's important they get good contact with wet soil to help the germination process
The area in front of the Ladies' Red 16th Tee after raking. The Greenkeepers will brushcut the rest and rake that off.
Looking very different - Two Pines Fen after 3 days of work on the Red Course side. We need to return in the autumn to finish off the Green Course side (on the left of the photo). The Greenkeepers will tackle the tall reed on the right - the "Between the Fens" area - by brushcutting it and raking it away. We hope to improve the biodiversity of this area - for it to be a stepping stone for the seeds of the specialist fen plants to grow and for the invertebrates which help pollinate them.
Simon, Adrian and Kathy making their way back to the compound car park
The heaps of cut vegetation from the fen - just shows how much we did!
David thinks this spider is Araneus marmoreus var, marmoreus, to be confirmed. If so, it is found mainly on fen and heathland (which is exactly what the Golf Course is made up of) and is very variable in colouration.
A wasp spider's nest
The underside of a Wasp Spider - so-called, because of its yellow and black striped back
We think this might be Knot Grass moth caterpillar. One of its food plants is watermint, and there was certainly plenty of that about. We left it undisturbed. When ready, it will pupate in a patch of bare earth.
We think this might be a hairy shieldbug (Dolycoris baccarum) that marched very sprightly along one of the spare canes, which we picked up once it had moved away.
A huge thank you to everyone who gave up their time to volunteer for this very special fen over the course of the three days - Adrian, Barbara, David, Eleanor, Jim, Kathy, Rich, Richard, Simon and Susan. We achieved a tremendous amount, with help from Judy, Rod, Steve and Rory, as well as the Greenkeeper Team of the Golf Course, headed by Jamie. Next autumn, we hope that they will be able to collect some of the green hay from Two Pines Fen and take this for spreading on Boundary House Fen, to help improve the biodiversity there. In the meantime, we have the prospect of returning to finish off the Green Course side this autumn to look forward to!
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