grows in my garden at Boreham and has done for a few years but the smaller of the two
bushes got hammered by this year's frosts and may not survive.
The point is that the establishment of a Mediterranean type wood pasture in Essex could
be very feasible, given the success of many of these trees and shrubs already in the
county. Importantly it would add another habitat type to the UK and after the EU
sponsored trashing of our farmed landscape in the 1960s and 70s it might just provide
some recompense for the lost grasslands. The planting of an artificial Mediterranean
type landscape would not only be an interesting experiment in today's current climatic
uncertainty, but I am fairly sure would generate a lot of scientific interest in the monitoring
of its subsequent development. It might also be a significant tourist attraction not only
for naturalists but the gardening fraternity as well.
A recent article in 'The Garden' journal of the Royal Horticultural Society' for Nov.
2005 evaluates a number of substrates suitable for creating wildflower habitat in urban
areas. The initial work was undertaken by Landlife at its five acre National Wildflower
Centre at Courthey Park in Knowsley near Liverpool. The three most likely to reproduce
conditions likely to favour a Mediterranean type flora were crushed concrete dross,
cockleshell sand and china-clay waste, the first two producing an alkaline medium and
the last acidic. Combine an area of these materials and a Mediterranean tree and shrub
flora and you will have a potentially very diverse habitat for a whole host of now
uncommon plants with the addition of creating what is potentially an outstanding habitat
for invertebrates as well.
Over a large area (50 acres or more) this would be a fantastic asset for wildlife and
would make a much more interesting landscape than your average urban park (acres of
species-poor mown grassland punctuated by the odd Cherry and Horse Chestnut and
would be hopefully low maintenance except in the establishment stages.
Perhaps such an innovation could be incorporated into the plans for the new Olympic
Park in the Lee Valley (it would hopefully mop up some of the eventually displaced
brownfield site invertebrates). Other possible sites could be in the Thames Chase
Community Forest area or even adjacent to Epping Forest to compliment the existing
parkland (Copped Hall and Warlies) and Forest wood pasture sites.
Measuring ancient trees in Essex
M.W. Hanson 3 Church Cottages, Church Road, Boreham, Essex
Essex has an outstanding population of ancient trees, and I now have a fairly
comprehensive database of the best oak trees in Essex with the Tree Register of the
British Isles (TROBI). My data alone include some now interesting (and probably
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Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 50, May 2006