Hello all

I wondered if some of our plant experts might advise me on a list of books about which plants a healthy bank side vegetation consists of, and methods used to create one from a blank riverside (grass). Library books preferred please.

Thanks in advance

Mick Martin

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"I will give him seven feet of English ground, or as much more as he may be taller than other men"
http://derbyshireonthefly.blogspot.com/

Any sensible wild flower guide will assist you greatly and allow you identify what is growing there already - your best guide. But what you really need is local advice from a botanist who will know the prevalent soils and conditions and what one can expect to grow there. So try your County Wildlife Trust or, if you are working on a farm then see if the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group are able to help - they give very practical and sensible advice and might know how to get hold of cheap seed sources.

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"The sun was so delightfully warm, and the stone, which had been sitting in it for a long time, was so warm, too, that Pooh had almost decided to go on being Pooh in the middle of the stream for the rest of the morning."

www.monnow.org

have alook for books by john cawthorne, he did one called Flies, Flowers, Fur and Feather...


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Flies-Flowers-...3A1|240%3A1318

i think his books are great

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Hi' Mick, and All. It's a small world. I am looking for an illustrated book of aquatic plants, as I have £50 of book tokens piled up, from Christmas and my birthday.
Our local bookshop could not help, but I am going to try the Librarian, Freshwater Biological Association, The Ferry House, Ambleside, Cumbria. LA22 0LP I already have three of their publications, 2 keys to the ephemeroptera, both adults and larvae, and 'A Natural History of the Lakes, Tarns and Streams of the English Lake District.' Photographs and sketches in the first two are in black and white. The third has hand-written text and very nice sketches, but all black and white, and no photographs.
If I strike gold, I'll report back to this thread, or start another. Good luck with your search, Mick. TerryC

2 books to consider
Collins Photo Guide ''Lakes,Rivers,Streams and ponds of Britain and North West Europe'' by Fitter and Manuel

Collins''Complete British wildlife phototoguide'' by Paul Sterry

Both are comprehensive and in colour.

Jim

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The Fishermans Friend is the Flirty Fly,Fickle Food for Fleeting Fish.

Cheers, Jim. I might have known you would help. Thanks, I'll check them out.
TerryC

If you are planning a project I do advise you contact your local wildlife trust - for three reasons.
Firstly they may be able to help, secondly I think there are limits on "wild flowers" that you could or should legally sow (you need truly wild strains), and thirdly one of the problems with wild flowers is that they have evolved for nutrient poor soils - which on farmland are now rare, which is why wild flower meadows are deliberately created and retained by (for example) cropping for hay and not being subjected to fertility improvement which is usually the case with grassland grown for silage. Having said all that, re-creating a wild flower meadow from bare grass if that's what you want to do is immensely satisfying. There is specific guidance on doing and you will be able to get it from the County Wildlife Trust. Here's a good one
http://www.lincstrust.org.uk/factshe...adow/index.php

Hope this is useful
GD

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We come from dust; we return to dust. I'm going to fish

Once upon a time you would need to know hundreds of different plants, by the late sixtes a bare handful sufficed; Nettle, Thistle, Giant Hogweed and Fireweed (rosebay willowherb).

Modern advances have brought the tally down to just two - Himalayan Balsam and Japanese Knotweed.

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Plusnet/Madasafish > Liars to the internet community

http://www.sac.ac.uk/consultancy/ser...ops/wildflower

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WHEN YOU LEAVE THE RIVER, TAKE NOTHING, AND LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINT'S!!!

THA CAN TELL A YORKSHIREMAN ,BUT THA CAN'T TELL HIM MUCH !!

Sadly very true. There are still places where riverside margins have been looked after properly though.