Small wetland area project

[Dave McCormick]

I regularly visit a small wetland area (about half an acre or just a little over) at the edge of a field that has always been kept as a wildlife area. There is couple of quite wet areas that have watercress and cuckooflower in them and frogs often and I have found ringed and brown china-mark moths there before as well as pippestrelle bats. There is not a lot of wildplants in the area but lots of grass as well as: great willowherb, hemp nettle, nettles, field bindweed, watercress, cuckooflower, dock, sorrel, birds-foot trefoil and sedges and bramble with a hawthorn hedge beside mixed woodland which is mostly conifer plantation with oak, alder and beech. What I would like to do as I am allowed, is sow a few more wildflower seeds in the area to attract more wildlife.

I have a few native seeds from a few species already that I would like to sow: marsh ragwort, bell heather, water avens, Devil's bit Scabious, ox-eye daisy and eyebright but does anyone know any others that might be good for an area that is usually quite muddy and wet?

[Matsukaze]

Hi Dave,

Probably best to have a chat with your local botanists - there are all different types of wetland habitat and it would probably be best to plant out the species that would do best on the particular site that you have.

[Dave McCormick]

Hi,

Thanks, probably the best plan. I'll ask my local plant recorder and see what he says. I'll post an update on how it goes.

[ChrisC]

fleabane, hemp agrimony, meadow sweet maybe even purple loosestrife

Chris