https://www.everittcountryside.co.uk/everittcountrysideblog daily 0.75 2022-03-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6076f62929a4d76f2059303f/1632129754844-TANWU1MD5JFYM08UBO0S/IMG_3147.jpg Blog - A question of aesthetics A few years ago, while repairing broken fencing along a section of road with a particularly stunning view of the Sussex weald, I got chatting to a couple of walkers who were taking pictures of the patchwork of flowering oil seed rape fields. They were blown away by the pastoral scene and singing the praises of the bucolic beauty spread out before them. It struck me after they left that what I was in fact looking at was an environmental catastrophe spread out before me. Field after field of monoculture interspersed with neglected hedgerows with all standards removed and with each field cultivated from edge to edge. So what should the natural world look like and is our vision of pastoral beauty actually detrimental to the cause of conservation and sustainable management? The word pastoral carries with it a history loaded with cultural resonance, from Virgil’s utopian visions in his poem Arcadia to Edmund Spencer’s The Shepherds Calender. The pastoral is a vision of an idealised countryside in which humanity lives in harmony with nature with shepherds and shepherdesses singing the virtues of rural simplicity over the complexities of city life. This pastoral vision was made manifest by the ‘landscape gardeners’ of the 18th and 19th century. The most famous of who, Launcelot ‘Capability’ Brown, introduced the Ha Ha to the landscape. Essentially a ditch angled in such a way as to deceive the eye into thinking that the fields around merge seamlessly with cultivated garden (Pashley Manor in Sussex has a good example). In addition to this landscaping the designers introduced many new species, Capability Brown loved Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani) and favoured the Evergreen Oak (Quercus ilex) and Turkey Oak (Quercus cerris). Gertrude Jekyll was a fan of the rhododendron (Rhododendron sp.) and used it extensively both in her formal and wild gardens. Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) was introduced into the UK in the mid 19th century after German botanist Phillipp von Siebold sent a shipment of of the plant to Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, who were delighted to receive what was widely regarded at the time as one of the most exciting ornamental species yet discovered. The problem this presents to conservationists is not the obvious native vs non native/invasive species argument, but in the creation of an idealised vision of what nature should look like. The tree in the photo is a hornbeam (Carpinus betulus). The hornbeam is a native to the UK and is planted in for coppice as it provides an incredibly strong wood. It’s name derives from its use in making ox-yokes, the beam was attached to the ox’s horns. The example above sits on the bank of a stream running down into the Powdermill Reservoir in Brede. The water has eroded the ground around it and in response the tree has thrust branches and roots out into the ground around it and created a supporting structure that has allowed the tree to flourish. This tree is set for the next few hundred years. The natural world does not do sculpted, it abhors tidiness and often this can conflict with the established image of what our countryside should look like. A more sustainable path to land management needs to draw more from the vast array of ecological research to ensure, in this increasingly overcrowded little island, we create space for the other species we share the land with. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6076f62929a4d76f2059303f/1647529398137-UL28PBKLBMN5RPGHUN6B/IMG_3658.jpeg Blog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6076f62929a4d76f2059303f/1647531800450-K6JH8P2SPK9O8ANN9FVY/Image+9.jpeg Blog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6076f62929a4d76f2059303f/1647532117213-ILX441MIFKWLBQMB8FIO/Image.jpeg Blog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6076f62929a4d76f2059303f/1647531581616-CBVCD0Y9NLD9ZU5EFSI8/Image+8.jpeg Blog https://www.everittcountryside.co.uk/everittcountrysideblog/99q0m4li3mjj7eohm0dk7v5g9f7qd9 monthly 0.5 2021-07-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6076f62929a4d76f2059303f/1626874712859-4NHQ3XM0AQ7SQFCFRGXS/IMG_2966.jpg Blog - Purple Pyramid Orchid - Make it stand out Purple Pyramid Orchid (Anacamptis Pyramidalis) https://www.everittcountryside.co.uk/everittcountrysidecontact daily 0.75 2021-04-15 https://www.everittcountryside.co.uk/home daily 1.0 2024-03-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6076f62929a4d76f2059303f/1618843952748-JYOIHEKOVDA0Y66FMNVU/everitt_countryside_simon.jpg Home - “Step into the green”: the Everitt Countryside ethos Founder of Everitt Countryside, Simon, describes the feeling of walking through a woodland in full leaf to be like, “Stepping into the colour green”. Nature can be a kind of cathedral in its own right where you can find solace, but it also deserves respect. Simon and his team of trusted contractors work in partnership with clients to create spaces using ecologically sound techniques and incorporating native species. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6076f62929a4d76f2059303f/1618845421676-2EWCQJZI3NU7N5NOBICO/dead_hedge_ecology_everitt.jpeg Home - What we do Talk to us about sustainable woodland and hedgerow management, wildflower meadow creation and management, and habitat creation for birds, small mammals, invertebrates and amphibians. https://www.everittcountryside.co.uk/abouteverittcountryside daily 0.75 2021-05-13 https://www.everittcountryside.co.uk/contact daily 0.75 2022-04-26 https://www.everittcountryside.co.uk/testimonials daily 0.75 2021-05-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6076f62929a4d76f2059303f/1620919404878-2NO0ELT5J2OGZ89CTDIN/dead_hedge_ecology_everitt.jpeg About https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6076f62929a4d76f2059303f/1620919622349-OCWL48Q4OFQTN1EJC40Z/habitat_creation_everitt_countryside_jpg.jpg About https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6076f62929a4d76f2059303f/1620919784697-B7G3WOB5LXYAMIF9ER2O/coppicing_traditional_woodland_management_jpg.jpg About https://www.everittcountryside.co.uk/everittcountrysideservices daily 0.75 2024-03-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6076f62929a4d76f2059303f/1618847156396-DKLLSSKUZUFA1WCUNUXG/coppice_woodland_management_everitt.JPG Services https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6076f62929a4d76f2059303f/1619362753110-J0DJVU0IYBWUPPKURFA9/turkeytail_fungus_ecology_woodland_management.jpg Services https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6076f62929a4d76f2059303f/1618847400046-ZQQQYGD0I7FYPJOI5WZ1/WhatsApp+Image+2021-04-15+at+19.32.18.jpeg Services https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6076f62929a4d76f2059303f/1618847412003-H72ISYT5LNW6C2VJQDNJ/WhatsApp+Image+2021-04-15+at+19.33.40.jpeg Services https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6076f62929a4d76f2059303f/1618847423407-YN5X759Z7AA5Q2FZ7ECE/WhatsApp+Image+2021-04-15+at+19.35.02.jpeg Services https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6076f62929a4d76f2059303f/1618847432755-PZG4D2FZHB1QJ5ZLSLQR/WhatsApp+Image+2021-04-15+at+19.37.46.jpeg Services https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6076f62929a4d76f2059303f/1618847456417-VXTKXV5X7R7AXMKJK0JI/pond_creation_woodland_everitt.JPG Services https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6076f62929a4d76f2059303f/1709739960410-AZ1QIBIXT6FWOP1QKIT8/IMG_6334.jpeg Services https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6076f62929a4d76f2059303f/1709739980765-D6GMJBXUK2AKPW8SDYQT/IMG_6330.jpeg Services