Planting a field

[crabbitdave]

The field is on a slope top half tree lined bottom it's gone very marshy due to the drainage ditch being neglected the next field is now flooded by water coming from the railway drainage that's made a very large pond lots of new plants have spurn up, so it's a bit of a mixed bag but it does look great on a nice day


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[GRIZZLY]

I'd go for Gavins idea i.e. Phacelia., another excellent bee crop is Borage - the honey is excellent.

[snimmo243]

the next field is now flooded by water coming from the railway drainage that's made a very large pond lots of new plants have spurn up,

Put troot in it!

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[crabbitdave]

Hi grizzly am not want to go down the root of planting crops, I was more looking at a plant's that would maybe only need a little or no looking after, due to me only doing this as a hobby and know very little about plants and their names


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[brothermoo]

I threw some borage into the bed in the garden last year and the bees were all over them when they were in flower, hope they come back again this year!
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[greengumbo]

Hi mellifera, it was a five by five

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[greengumbo]

Woops new to this smart phone stuff....anyway only 5x5 metre patches and I cut the stalks after flowering leaving them on surface over winter. Digging in this weekend then planting borage and clover on it. Phacelia on another neglected bit of the garden. If you have slightly alkaline soil then sanfoin is amazing for bees.

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[gavin]

I sowed a similar sized patch at the association apiary and a smaller one on the allotment. Both have self-seeded to some extent, but in Dave's case they will not be self-sustaining as the bare earth converts to something more perennial.

There's a picture of the Phacelia patch here.

I sowed into lightly raked soil which had been under a carpet. This is the right time of year. For £7 you can get enough seed for 250m2 from greenmanure.co.uk.

[greengumbo]

Plus the pollen is an amazing blue colour

[Calum]

Hi
I'd plant willow along the edges, Willow seems quite happy in quite wet ground, will give the bees a good start in the spring.
There are flowering plant mixes you can get here now that provide excellent forage for bees and butterflies, the mown "crop" is then sold on for biogas production. Its not as valuble per acre as the elephant grass that is usually planted, but insect friendly... I'll try to supply a link.
http://www.lebensraum-brache.de/Proj...jekt/index.php
google translate will help...