Grassland Management of Portsdown Hill
Seed harvesting and sowing
The chalk grassland of Portsdown is a fragment of what once existed. It is made up of plants are local to the area - they have local provenance- which makes them important from a conservation of Biodiversity point of view. Any regeneration of chalk grassland on Portsdown should be made using seed from the area.
Cutting and collecting grass in seed
Jane collecting flower seeds
Seed sowing
Following a grant from the MOD, large areas of compartments 1 and 2 were cleared of scrub. With several hectares of bare soil in Spring 2005 the seed harvest of 2004 was thus put to use.
Raking out the grass mown in August, as above.
Spreading
Scattering seeds that had been collected from growing flowers, then mixed with sand.
Mowing
The best way to keep grassland short and open is by grazing. The hill has a resident population of rabbits, and roe deer can often be seen there, while historically, flocks of sheep kept the grassland open. Given the extent of scrub encroachment since the 1950's, we are now using machinery to help regain that open grassland. Over winter, we have grazing livestock, and we augment the activities of livestock, deer and rabbits by mowing the grass to control scrub regrowth.
Richard using a mower to clear regrowth
Tony using the brush cutter on trench regrowth
Swathe mown through the long grass by the Aebi's flail teeth