The Fields: Giving Back to Nature
At Sedbergh Landscaping we passionately believe in being Good Stewards to this unique, beautiful and fragile Earth that we call home.
Although we go to great lengths to ensure that we only use peat free soil, and,where possible, suppliers that are local to your area, unfortunately we cannot all be as green as we would like to in this modern age. We rely on trucks and lorries to deliver our plants and timber, and we also depend upon quarries and managed sustainable forests to supply us with the stones, aggregates and timber needed to create beautiful gardens. Despite this however, we have managed to find a way to give back: enter the fields.
We have the fortune of owning, at present, two fields in the Yorkshire Dales where we are committed to planting trees, bushes and wildflowers, as well as creating ponds and wetland areas that will not only go towards reducing our carbon footprint but also provide a haven for wildlife in an otherwise low biodiverse area with very little tree cover and rolling hills of clipped grass (good only for sheep).
The best thing about this is that they are ours, there are no middle men, no smoke screen third party companies promising the earth (quite literally), and no diddling the numbers. We do the planting ourselves, we see the benefits first hand, and we are directly accountable for our actions.
For the current varieties of trees, fruiting trees and bushes, and wildflowers click here (or just scroll to the bottom of the page).
How it Started
The fields we bought were not what you would call pristine examples of untouched wilderness by any stretch of the imagination. To be quite honest they were a mess. They had a very thin topsoil which covered the remains of the old local railway bridge stones that were tragically dismantled as part of 'The Reshaping of British Railways' by one Dr Beeching in 1963, which meant the soil was more boulder and rubble than anything else. It had since this time been a dumping ground for all manner of farm, industrial and camping waste and was only used once a year by members of the travelling community as they made their way to The Appleby Horse Fair. All in all this meant a colossal (and ongoing task) in removing as much waste and rubble as we can along with regenerating the soil and increasing the biodiversity of the predominantly grassed fields. This was made worse by the fact that (to keep our carbon footprint as low as possible whilst we built this field) all work was to be done predominantly by hand, this is still the case today.
The waste that we could keep were repurposed; stones were made into dry stone walls, gravel was sieved and used for gravelled areas, and timber was used for stakes and the demarkation of areas.
The main field, just after being cleared of all surface debris
The dogs 'helping' to collect anything missed
The trenches for the main fruit trees being de-rubbled
The first winter 2019/2020
Spring 2021
The 2019/2020 trees beginning to take in the summer of 2020
the Medlar trees planted in December 2019 looking marvellous along with the newly planted wildflowers in 2021
Late Summer 2021
Yellow Rattle
Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor) is one of the key species that we introduced to the fields. It is semi-parasitic, leaching nutrients from grass (a main competitor to wildflowers) thus creating more space and light for the other wildflowers to thrive
Apples
Heritage Apples are not just incredible for wildlife from birds to Ladybirds but are also incredibly important to plant in your field or garden to ensure their very existence. They can cope with an astounding variety of conditions and produce some very tasty and unique fruits, far superior to any supermarket variety.
Autumn Olives
Autumn Olives (Eleagnus umbellata) are another important species for the rejuvenation of the fields. They are a nitrogen fixer and improve the fertility of the soil over time which makes them crucial to supporting the many fruit trees planted on our sites.
Species of Trees and Plants on the Fields
Fruit Trees and Plants:
Apples
We have over 30 different varieties of apple trees on our field, the vast majority of them being heritage varieties. For a list of our varieties click here
Other 'Fruit' Trees
We have a wide variety of fruit, nut and other 'fruiting' trees on our fields. For a list of the our varieties click here
Wildflowers
We continue to work hard on establishing and expanding an ever increasing number of wildflowers on our fields. These, along with our fruiting trees, represent the bedrock to the pollinators food source and have directly contributed to their numbers increase. For a list of our varieties click here
Current Number of Trees Planted on the Fields
As of Spring 2022 we have 1489 trees and shrubs on our field, and too many wildflowers to count!
To see what else we do to help reuse materials and reduce our carbon footprint head over to our online shop by clicking the link below
