Wildflower Turf and Green Roofs

Barn Owls (Tyto alba) are a species of conservation concern in the UK, so being given the chance to change their fortunes albeit very slightly and locally was not an opportunity we were prepared to pass up.

Some while ago the nice people from The Hawk Conservancy popped over to the farm to install a nest box in one of our high barns.   The goal was to encourage the Barn Owls that had been seen flying around the farm, to rear young in a place where they would be relatively safe and there was clearly a guaranteed food source.

Barn Owls are low flying predators and prefer open farmland with abundant hedgerows, edge of woodland with field margins left alongside hedgerows.  They feed on small mammals such as short tailed voles, mice, shrews and small rats – just what you would expect to find scurrying around a farm with open tracts of rough un-grazed grassland and acres of wildflower meadow turf.

A few weeks ago, and with great anticipation on our part, The Hawk Conservancy returned to see whether Mr & Mrs Barn Owl had decided it was a Des. Res. and had set up house in there.  To our great delight they had done more than that, they had laid a couple of eggs.

So imagine our enchantment today when Sam Hunt of the Hawk Conservancy returned to check their progress.  One charming 3 week old chick with the fattest tummy, a clear sign of plentiful food, was proudly presented ready for ringing.  Sam told us the chick was a little young to see whether it was a boy or girl but the fact that it was clearly well fed and healthy was all we really cared about.

Sam weighed this fluffy specimen and we were told it was the same weight as its mother, around 30 grams and heavier than its father. Wow, what a bruiser!

We have a nifty little fact for you: Did you know that Barn Owls mate for life?  Well they do, which means that next year, because Mrs Barn Owl quite liked our next box she will probably use it again.  How cool would that be!

We also thought you might like to see this bruiser of a barn owl baby, so we took a picture.  Ahhhh!

Here is a whizzy little application we have been trialing to enable our fellow bloggers to see how spectacular our wildflower meadow turf looks when fully grown. It is an interesting little project that I wanted to share with you all. We decided to use a spare bit of land just outside the office which was very chalky and bare and got a little bit creative using timelapse photography created by Stephen Hill.  In order to see this at its best, we recommend you click on the link below and then go to full screen.  Alternatively you can simply get a quick idea by viewing it from the picture below.

http://www.vimeo.com/wildflowerturf

Wild Flower Turf – From rolls to meadow in 9 Weeks from James Hewetson-Brown on Vimeo.

Notice how the Pink Campions displayed early, shortly followed by Oxeye Daisies and Bladder Campions. Its all about progression, balance and competition between the various grass and flower species. The turf looks quite alarmingly sparse when first laid but as you can see after a couple of weeks it really begins to grow and thicken up. After being quite pink for a couple of weeks, it now displays as an overall white cloud. We can’t wait to see what flowers next!

Windsor Great Park is taking its last delivery of the year with 400/m² leaving the farm tomorrow morning. Despite the weather it is still a good time of year to lay the turf as it will not need to be watered while it establishes. Once the turf’s roots are established a wild flower meadow is drought tolerant and very hardy. Establishing the turf before the spring will ensure it is flowering towards the end of April. The turf is fine in frosty conditions, both here on the farm or once it is laid on site. The main problem is lifting frozen turf as once frozen it is similar to lifting stiff cardboard – we can not roll it up! On most days it has thawed by the afternoon and is lifted then.

The stable green roof has been coming on so quickly in the last few months so I thought I should climb up on the roof to take some pictures. It was teeming with insect life! I am absolutely delighted with how this has turned into a genuine wildflower meadow. We have had to water the roof because of the recent dry weather but only about once a week.

Green Roof in Summer09. Stables.

Well spotted if you noticed that this isn’t actually Wildflower Turf being watered. I had an order for Lawn Turf and set it up under the watering boom. Notice that the nozzles can be controlled independently – rows 5 and 7 are set not to deliver water as there is no turf underneath them!