Heather

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HEATHER –IT’S BLOOMING MARVELOUS.

This is the time of year is when Heathland golf courses can look at their most scenic – it is Heather flowering season. The recent rain here at Ipswich has not only greened up the golf course but has also helped the Heather. After a couple of bad years due to dry conditions and attacks by the Heather beetle, there is a fantastic display this year, especially on holes like the 3^rd, 6^th, and 17^th. If you look closely at the Heather, it can be seen that there are in fact two different species – Common Heather (or Ling) Calluna vulgaris and Bell Heather Erica cinerea.

The Common Heather can be seen all over the site, producing  masses of small cup-shaped flowers ranging in colour from light purple right through to white (although the white plants are very rare here, with only a few at the 17^th being known at the moment). The foliage can also vary, being bright green or even bluish green in some cases. The main flowering period is in August and September, and on warm sunny days it can be seen to be alive with insects, especially bees and Solitary wasps, many species of which are entirely dependent on the Heather.

The other species, Bell Heather, is much scarcer. It prefers to grow in slightly drier areas, and hence on the golf course it can be found on bunker banks and mounds e.g. on the 6^th and 9^th holes. It can grow in with the Common Heather but as it has sparser foliage it tends to be out-competed, except in the drier spots. The flowers are different from Common Heather in that they are larger, bell-shaped and are deep purple in colour and do not really vary in shade. The foliage too is different, with the leaves being very thin and thread-like so it looks a bit like a fir tree. The flowering period too is different from Ling, as Bell Heather can start to flower in June and goes right through until October.

After flowering, masses of small dust-like seeds are produced by both species, which are then shed over the autumn and winter. This is the time when we cut the Heather tops and collect them for seeding areas we want to return to Heather.  The seed can lie dormant in the soil for at least 50 years, waiting for the right conditions to grow again. This is in fact an adaptation to how it used to live in the natural environment before the arrival of man. The seeds would wait until there was a forest fire or a tree fall in the extensive woodlands that used to cover the UK. With the extra light (and in the case of fire extra nutrients) the seed would germinate and the Heather would grow until it was out-competed by new trees. This is why we spend time each year at the golf course removing the young trees from the Heather areas to stop them becoming woodland again.

Heather used to have many uses historically including fuel for fires, fodder for farm animals, thatching, broom-making, beer brewing and honey production. Only the last two are still quite prevalent today, with Heather honey well-known for its excellent flavour, and the Heather beer brewed in Scotland (using the flowering shoots as well as Hops).

Another species to watch out for this month is the Common Buzzard. Several members have reported a sighting of this species at the 14^th hole, and I too have seen one in that area. They are pretty unmistakable, being a large brown bird with broad wings and a pale underside. Their main foods are Rabbits and Earthworms, both of which are numerous on the site. This is a bird species that has increased greatly in numbers in Suffolk in recent years after being very rare, having spread across the UK from its strongholds in the west. I suspect that Buzzards have nested in the woods to the left of the 14^th and I believe that they will become a much more common sight over the course in the next few years.

Neil Sherman