In mid-January, following a break in the cold snowy weather, I went back to Gailes to see how things were faring. 10 horses were on the reserve at the time, taking adantage of the lack of snow to get to the grass. The area at the entrance where the horses are fed was hard-grazed with quite a few bare patches.Potentially good for wildflower germination.
The South-West of the reserve where the kidney vetch had been sown was also well grazed, but thankfully the kidney vetch plants were looking healthy desipite the harsh winter.
The kidney vetch strips.
In addition to kidney vetch I could see a range of other plant species colonising the bare strips including clovers, plantains, sorrel, bitter cress, daisies and some grasses. The horses had churned up a few sections in the bare strips and it looked like they had been using the banks to shelter from the wind. This will be good for keeping the ground disturbed, which is required for kidney vetch germination.
When the wildlife hedge was planted, it was put in a distance from the boundry fence to prevent the horses nibbling, which was a very good plan as can be seen below!
The wildlife hedge.
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