On Top of the World

My Unofficial Office

This is where I come and relax and sometimes come to compile notes, well, one of many places actually.  This place is quite special for a number of reasons though; firstly it's got these huge granite overhangs, which are great, if it's raining and/or windy, then it's half a kilometer above sea level, well 520 metres, to be exact and you can see for miles.

A friend on face book pointed out to me earlier today; that the over-hanging rock looks like a Whale, so I have nick named it Whale rock.  Granite has a peculiar way of appearing to look like all sorts of things, much like clouds appear to do.

If today were less hazy; in the direction shown in the above photograph; you could see the edge of Torquay, which is some 35 miles away.  If you looked to the South West, you could see Plymouth.  North West; Bodmin Moor and you can generally see a huge section of the South Devon and Cornish coastline.

On Dartmoor we have these small rocky outcrops, usually on the top of hills, which we call 'tors'.  This one is called North Hessary tor.  Usually, like this one; the tors are quite easy to climb, in the picture above you can see the triangulation point, which marks the top.  

On the other picture above are some Willows I planted right back in year 1 (2001).  They have survived up here, but have never grown above half a metre in height.  Not sure exactly why this is, but I have many theorys.

On the Tors themselves; few plants can grow except Mosses, Lichens and the odd Stone crops (Sedum), as shown above.

You really can see for miles in all direction here.  It is always very tranquil and it is always down hill on the return journey, which ever direction that might be.

Berries on the Elders

Success at last

Today is the first day I made a bit of money on the Internet, it is also the day I noticed that my Elder trees have actually produced fruit.

I have been planting Elders since year 1 (2001) and for the last 3 years; they have flowered, but never had any fruit.  I had assumed that, as with many other trees and shrubs; that conditions up here were too poor and that they just weren't able to produce berries because it was either too short a season and/or the soil was too acid, but now they have, just a few.  Just like the £9 I made on the Internet today; It's a good start, and to see both made me very happy.

It's worth noting, that the Elders on the lowlands fruited ages ago, we're a good month behind up here on Dartmoor, same with everything.

Before I moved here; there were about 4 Elder trees up here, which must have been brought here by the Birds.  None of them ever produced any fruit, maybe there just weren't enough of them then.  I haven't been all the way down the river, to check them yet.  Too busy blogging.

Collecting Herbaceous Plants

Clump Forming, Perennial Wild Flowers

Today I am driving about, round lanes, close to Tavistock; looking for large clump forming, perennial, herbaceous roadside wild plants.

With motorised transport, there are obvious disadvantages, as opposed to using a bicycle or walking, since you can only stop in lay-buys and when you are zooming along; it is much harder to see whats growing in the hedges.  But at least with motorised transport; I can get to where I want to get to in the first place.  I have been without my motorbike for a while now. It's so good to have it back now.  The same, of course goes for my computer and camera phone;  I need my devices and my gadgets.  I have managed to do quite allot without these things, but I couldn't write about any of it on here.

Flea Bane Pulicaria-Dysenterica

This plant is a common sight in hedgerows, road verges and on the sides of ditches.  They spread with 2mm thick underground white rhizomes and form thick clumps, with the flowering stems reaching about a metre in height, in the late Summer.  The leaves are a bit furry.

I am trying a two pronged approach with this plant; collecting both seeds as well as rooted chunks.

They defiantly like it on the moors, because there is one clump that I know of up there, at 460 metres above sea level, on the lane up to the radio mast, which I refer to as 'Pipdaffs Lane'.  I possibly did plant them, but I couldn't say for sure, but the main thing is; it proves that they like it up there. 

Now what I need to do is increase the range, where they grow on Dartmoor and to increase the genetic diversity.  Speaking of which; there are quite a few subspecies of Flea bane.  They are also very closely related to the Inula family, which is another big group of yellow Daisy-like things.  They do well on Dartmoor to, and by all accounts they drive away fleas and mosquitoes.

Hemp Agrimony Eupatorium Cannabinum

A common roadside, edge of woodland plant, it's quite shade tolerant.  Flowers late Summer, about a metre tall, but can get bigger.  The seeds are wind borne and erupt from the heads shortly after flowering. 

It's got 'Hemp' in it's name, because it possesses some similar properties to Hemp, but you can't get stoned on it and it's certainly not a direct relative. 

I know that generally it would be considered to be a bit early to dig up plants. normally this would be so, but these are tough wild weeds.  All the buds for next year's growth; are formed and ready to go.  So reckon they'll grow!

In the dormant season; I try and devote as much of my time to planting trees as possible, so I want to get these wild plants done now.  Also, when these herbaceous plants die back; it is very difficult to tell were they are or what they are, because all you are left with at that time of the year is dead sticks. 
I would not have collected these plants earlier in the year, when they were still growing, but now that they are coming to the end of their flowering season, they are just ready to die back and will be ok.

I cut the stems back to about 12cm and brought the flower heads too, they will still erupt into seed, as with Dandelions and Thistles; even when separated from the parent plant and with no obvious source of water.

Meadow Sweet Filipendula Ulmaria

I have mentioned Meadow Sweet many times and collected a great deal of it this year, so I wont say much about it here.

Collected a bit more from a few new sites and observed that their seeds are almost ready for me to collect some.



Seed Stash

 Wild Flower Seeds
I have collected many seeds, from many different species of native plants.  Scabious and Prickly Ox Tongue are 2 of many brand new introductions, to this region.

Poppys; I am not so sure will like it up here.  Same with Mallows, Centuary and Chamomile.  But if I don't try them; I won't find out.

Mostly what I seem to have got are many sub-species of Hawkweed, Knapwort and various Umbiliferous plants.

I have divided the seeds up into sun or shade lovers.

Well, I suppose I had better get out there and plant them.

Under Cover of Darkness

Planting the wall by the Village Hall

It's probably not very subtle to plant this close to a village in the day time, so just to avoid any awkward questions; I have decided to do this bit during the small hours of the very early morning.

There are allot of areas, with disturbed areas of soil here, so what I want to do, is to concentrate my efforts with the seeds, on these areas of disturbed ground or bare earth, such as a tyre print or Mole earth.  This way; the new plants should have no competition from grasses or other plants.

Another good thing about planting a wide variety of wild flowers here is that people will see them, with this site being right next to a village hall; and then hopefully some people will become familiar with them too and maybe they'll even get into Botany, who knows?

As I take seeds out; I break up any seed heads, with my finger and thumb, then I sow them, as shown.  I want to ensure that the seeds are free from one another and that they are attached to as little rottable, organic material as possible.  I also want to ensure that the seeds are added to as many suitable habitats as possible.



This is the 1st bit of Hemp Agrimony to be planted up here.



Little bits of rooted perennial plant are very easy to plant, I just dig a same size hole, with my fingers, place the plant in the hole and gently firm it in place.  Of course, with it still being the growing season; if there is no rain forecast, watering is sometimes necessary, but quite a performance, as carrying a watering can miles, along with every thing else is just a hassle.





Finally with the last few seeds, in the bottom of the bag; I turn the bag inside out over one last little bit of ground and then head for home.



I hope that these will grow.  I am sure something will.  It's a bit like getting a mixed packet of wild seeds; something always will grow.

I wonder if any of them will be flowering for next year.





Why won't my Brooms spread?

My Brooms won't seed themselves!

I was pleased; when my early year experiments with Broom, both in the garden and in the countryside; seemed to be going very well. From the first year after being planted; they flowered, podded and grew incredibly fast.

Most of the ones I have planted up here are from Burrator reservoir, near Yelverton and also from some damp woods, near Okehampton. Following my apparent success from earlier plantings; I planted them fairly excessively in year 6 and 7.
In the wild; they seem to occupy the areas around bogs and rivers and need a certain amount of companion plants nearby, as grass alone dose not provide enough nutrients for them.

Reason for Concern

Normally, I wouldn't be too bothered if a shrub or tree hadn't propagated it's self after the first few years, but Broom is a very short lived plant. I would say 6 years would be about the expected life span, for one of these bushes. Unlike their cousin the Gorse; Broom rush up and give it all they've got, then they suddenly die, when they have reached about 5'/1.5m.

Usually, in the wild; many young plants set seed, &/or fallen over specimens can layer and root into the ground and therefore spread vegetativly, but not here. The Brooms look so good at the moment, but if I can't work out how to get them to seed themselves; they could literally disappear, so soon after arriving. I mean; look at all these fat seed pods below. It's like this every year, but never do any seem to survive, to make little bushes.

I hope to find a solution to this problem and would appreciate any feed-back on the subject!

MEADOW SWEET

Collecting Meadow Sweet

Today I intended to set this article in the Teign gorge, where I intended to collect quite a few plants, on route to Exeter. Unfortunately; my bike wouldn't start, so I did it all here instead.

The clump of Meadow Sweet illustrated here to the right; is one of the first experimental specimens, which I planted, but I couldn't really hazard a guess, as to which year that might have been.

This established clump has spread herbaceously and seems to have seeded too, as there are other clumps around it. They are situated on the thin part of Upper Bee woods, which runs along the perimeter fence of Dartmoor Prison. in fact, this clump grows up right against the fence.

Now, these plants have thick rhizomes, which spread out about 5cm/2" under ground. I just stick my fingers into the damp earth, feel for the roots and the gently remove a chunk, with as much root ball, as I can get on it. As you can see, I get one from the middle, so as not to diminish the existing clump, in any way. Remove flowering stem and leave a few leaves.

Meadow Sweet's are one plant I really do want to encourage to grow up here. They are very common all around the moor, mainly lining damp bases of hedges. I have brought them up here to the top of the moors, from a wide variety of local sites, so hopefully; the gene-pool here will be sufficiently varied.

I am very impressed, with how these plants have done up here. Hopefully in a

few years time; they will be a common sight up here. I am sure that; with them a few more species of insects and other invertebrates will also arrive, which will strengthen the food chain an with it the overall ecosystem.

I don't think I will have to spend too much time planting Meadow Sweet, since it dose spread quite well. now that there's a healthy and genetically diverse population already established up here; all I need to do is to add a few more to locations, where there are still none, expecting that they will be able to be pollinated by those already exiting up here.

So, 2 years from now and I believe this will be a common plant of upper Dartmoor. But now, I think I ought to go and plant these, before they wilt.