Oak Tree Farm is perhaps Herefordshire Wildlife Trust’s most ambitious habitat creation project in recent years. Situated in the Lower Lugg Valley, just to the south of our Bodenham Lake Nature Reserve, the aim of this project was to create a vibrant wetland habitat for iconic species such as curlew, lapwing and otters, as well as to create greater habitat connectivity in the area. This involved the creation of a series of scrapes, ponds and channels on the Lugg floodplain to create a mosaic of wetland habitats. But, as well as creating wetland habitats, much effort has also been put into making this 30-acre site into a thriving grassland ecosystem.

Before the site was purchased by Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, the site showed little signs of agricultural improvement in the past, making it ideal for grassland restoration.

Initial botanical surveys showed that it was not an exceptionally diverse grassland, but with scattered species such as bee orchid, the site had great potential to become an excellent grassland site.

Creating a grassland on site would not only supplement the habitat features of the wetland creation such as creating nesting habitat for breeding waders, it is also a highly biodiverse habitat in its own right, as well as a highly effective means of sequestrating carbon.

Grassland restoration was done in collaboration with Herefordshire Meadows, an excellent local charity that provides grassland restoration services in Herefordshire. The restoration process began in October 2021, with Trust volunteers spreading wildflower seed by hand over three specially prepared fields which had been scarified to increase the chances of the seeds establishing.  This was followed in August 2022 with green hay being strewed across the same fields to further aid the establishment of wildflower seed. On both occasions seed and hay had been carefully harvested and sourced by Herefordshire Meadows from local sites.  It is important to use locally sourced seed in a grassland restoration such as this, as plants develop adaptions specific to the environmental conditions of a local area. This means locally sourced seeds are more likely to establish that those sourced from another area.

In the summer of 2023, Trust staff and volunteers surveyed the site to see if the grassland restoration had been a success. It is important to note that one must be patient when monitoring a grassland restoration, as many species can take several years to establish. Despite this, the initial signs have been very promising. The most notable indication of the grassland’s improving status was the prevalence of yellow rattle across the restored meadows. This semi-parasitic species decreases the competitiveness of grasses in the meadow sward, therefore increasing the chances of desirable meadow species establishing. It is usually the first meadow species to establish in a meadow restoration, as it is an annual species and therefore needs to set seed every year. In contrast, perennial meadow species such as bird’s-foot trefoil and black knapweed can take two-three years to appear. Another exciting discovery from our surveys was the presence of three different orchid species across the site: bee, common spotted and southern marsh.

In the autumn of 2023, the final stage of the grassland restoration process took place: plug planting. Plug plants are seedlings of plants that have already started to grow; planting these can help them to establish as they don’t have to compete so fiercely with grasses and other vigorous species. A variety of species favouring both floodplain and dry grassland were chosen reflecting the fact that much of the site is flooded in the winter months. In the floodplain area at the bottom of the reserve, species such as meadowsweet and great burnet were chosen; species which favour wet ground and can survive being submerged for long periods in the winter. In the drier areas typical MG5 type meadow species such as black knapweed and bird’s foot trefoil were planted, as well as some scarcer species such as devil’s-bit scabious (which can tolerate both moderately wet and dry conditions) and pepper saxifrage. In 2024 we will continue monitor the improving status of this grassland with interest to see how successful these interventions have been.