By Victoria Plum 
By Victoria Plum
I very much enjoyed September’s talk at the Reepham & District Gardening Club by Andrew Bloomfield, a Holkham man, which was about the 10,000-acre National Nature Reserve formed in 1967 and part of the massive Holkham Estate.
Historically, significant barriers, dams and land drains were put in place to dry out and drain the marshes, turning the saltwater brackish, and then eventually to freshwater to enable the land to be farmed and grazed with cattle.
The now-iconic pines were planted in the 1870s to stop sand being blown from the dunes onto the marshland and spoiling the grazing, and about 100 years later, with new interest in returning the land to a more natural state, it was proposed to remove the pines.
They are such a popular landmark, and I am pleased they are still there, but some thinning has been done to allow more light and therefore wildflowers to break up the dark mass.
Pine seedlings are prevented from colonising too much of the beach by the wardens during the winter months, who are then given a break from their summer tasks of chasing the naturists and protecting ground-nesting birds from holidaymakers, dogs and foxes.
In the 1980s it had become apparent that bird life was becoming scarce and big changes were instigated. It was decided to raise water levels to restore the extensive marsh network to provide a better habitat for wetland-loving birds.
An extensive system to allow natural spring water onto the marshes is now carefully managed, but of course a significant change in water levels brings further difficulties, and the trees that provided valuable nesting sites for spoonbills, egrets and rare European cormorants were under threat by rising water. A redundant duck decoy had become their valuable nesting place, but the trees were dying.
So now, with tremendous industry, the wardens are making an entirely new replication of the nesting facility that those birds require, but one which is at a level that should be viable in the long term. I see this as another example of how forward thinking and dynamic Holkham has always been.
Another part of the remit of the wardens and volunteers is regular counts and checks of wildlife and creatures. If this is not done there is no way of assessing the value or progress of any of the work they undertake.
Severals Grange
There was more excitement on Thursday 21 September as 30 members of the Reepham & District Gardening Club visited Severals Grange at Wood Norton (pictured below) to see the lovely examples of well-grown grasses and well-coloured foliage plants there.
This used to be the Hoecroft Plants nursery, and its specialism was grasses and foliage plants. I remember a talk from one of the owners some years ago, so I was pleased to see evidence of their work in practice.
There were many lovely views, and the planting of occasional blasts of colourful flowers was very effective. I bought a good, bright yellow rudbeckia in the hopes that it will cheer up my garden in the same way.
We enjoyed tea and cake in the garden, and there will be more tea (and coffee) and cake for keen gardening club members and guests on Tuesday 17 October 7.30 pm in the Town Hall, Reepham.
Andrew Sankey will talk to us about “Cottage Cures and Superstitions – plants and their uses”.
Where else would you find an interesting live talk, keen gardeners to chat with and refreshments, including home-made cake, all for just £1 (if you are a member that is)?
I shall dust off my witches’ hat; why not wear yours, too?
http://reephamgardenclub.org.uk/
Photos: Tina Sutton
Geoff Fisher