GB2478353A

GB2478353A - A method for the reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog or similar

Info

Publication number: GB2478353A
Application number: GB201003678A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Annabel Jane Barker; Simon John Bland
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2010-03-05
Filing date: 2010-03-05
Publication date: 2011-09-07
Anticipated expiration: 2030-03-05
Also published as: GB201003678D0; GB2478353B

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for the reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, and comprises the steps of firstly wetting / rewetting the whole of the area, providing seeding sites 30 appropriately spaced across the area where water can pool 37, reseeding 38 the area so that the seed (36 figure 7) will be introduced to said seeding sites and, when rain falls and pools form, becoming established at the edges of the pools and rooting 38A into the moist soil 1A there. The method wets / rewets the whole volume of the peat down to the water table over the whole volume of the peat in the treated area. The whole process may be completed in a single pass by a specialised tracked vehicle. Embodiments for harvesting Sphagnum species and transporting the seed from the donor site to the receptor site are taught so that the seed arrives and is sown in a condition maintaining its maximum vitality. Variations of the method for a range of different peat bog conditions are also taught.

Description

RE-GENERATION OF PEAT BOGS AND THE LIKE

This specification relates to the reseeding and revegetation of peat bogs, which have been dried and most of the peat removed, to re-create a new growing peat bog, viable on a permanent basis. It also applies to existing peat bogs where a part(s) is / are barren or is I are becoming so and require(s) reseeding and revegetation to recreate a continuous bog environment. In this context, the terms reseeding' and revegetation' mean the application of seed or vegetative fragments or a combination of both, to a peat bog or the like (fragments will strike to grow into bog plants as do conventional plant cuttings).

Nowadays, the use of peat for horticulture is carefully regulated and many alternatives are available. However in the past, many peat bogs were extensively harvested and, once the bog had been drained and the living top layer had been removed, it would effectively become a dead' environment. The process is partly shown in Figure 1, where drainage ditches 3, 4 are dug from one side 2 of the bog 1 (or compartment to be harvested) to the other side 2. Ditches 3, 4 are open ended and usually inclined so that water collecting therein runs out at one end or the other. The surface of bog I may be stripped of its living sphagnum moss vegetation to facilitate water run off and evaporation. Then, bog 1 will be left in this condition for a period of time, possibly years, during which time the water therein will either drain out into ditches 3, 4 and run away or be drawn to the surface by capillary action and evaporated by the overblowing winds. When sufficiently dry, the harvesting machines would come in and remove the peat down to the water table and leave. Ditches 3, 4 would be deepened and the whole process repeated.

After repeated harvestings, when all the easily available peat had gone, the site would be left as a desolate, almost sterile surface consisting of a thin layer of peat, possibly with areas of subsoil in parts. From an environmental point of view, the area would be an unsightly scar on the landscape. Rainfall would mostly run off and any wind-blown seeds landing on it would find the dry, acidic conditions inhospitable. The only real vegetation which could tolerate the acidity is sphagnum moss and related species but these require soft wet peat in which to germinate and grow in and high availability of water. Rain quickly runs off dry peat and will not easily wet it. If dried bogs are seeded with sphagnum moss, the seed risks being washed into the ditches in rain storms or blown away after the wetted surface has dried.

The conventional method of trying to re-generate a peat bog is to block the ends of the drainage ditches 3 with dams, e.g. 6. (There has been only 20+ years experience trying to regenerate peat bogs and this time represents only a miniscule period in the life of such bogs.) This will gradually allow the watertable in the peat to rise but dry peat is extremely difficult to wet, even when in a crumbly, particulate form, but, as a dense, dry, compacted mass in its normal environment, natural re-wetting may take as long the original drying and harvesting process, or even longer, i.e. years. Environmentalists regard these peat extractions as eyesores in the countryside. There are major concerns about the methane release from de-composing peat and the value of active peat bogs as carbon sinks.

Inactive peat bogs disrupt the wider ecosystem as living peat bogs are home to myriads of insects which are the basis of the food chains for larger insects, amphibians, small mammals and birds. In addition to large area peat bogs, smaller parts of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) may also require re-generation due to particular local factors.

Thus, there is an urgent need for a viable, cost effective method of re-seeding and regeneration of abandoned peat bogs so that they may be reconstituted in a sensible timescale.

According to the invention, there is provided a method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, comprising the steps of:-i) providing means to wet I rewet the whole of the area; ii) providing seeding sites, appropriately spaced across the area, where water can pool and remain, said pools having circumferential edges; and iii) reseeding the area so that the seed will be introduced to said pools, become established at the edges and root into the moist soil at those locations; charactensed in that the wetting / rewetting of the bog is both by raising the water table upwards from below, laterally from the sides, as well as downwards from the top via the pools and that reseeding is applied to the whole surface area of the bog, or compartments of the bog, and that the seed is provided with definite locations in which to root into the wetted surface of the peat / soil and thrive in this wetted surface until the water table reaches a suitable level to provide a permanent water supply.

According to a first variation of the method of the invention, the means to wet I rewet the bog includes damming the drainage ditch(es) at a plurality of points along its / their length.

According to a second variation of the method of the invention, the damming of the drainage ditch(es) includes excavating peat from borrow pits at the sides of the drainage ditch(es).

According to a third variation of the method of the invention, the borrow pits open into the drainage ditch(es) forming swales to enable greater water ingress to the body of the bog.

According to a fourth variation of the method of the invention, any vegetation on the area to be excavated as a borrow pit is removed in turves', stored and the turves are re-laid on the sides I bottom of the borrow pit when the excavation I dam is completed.

According to a fifth variation of the method of the invention, the means to wet / rewet the bog includes spiking the ground with tines.

According to a sixth variation of the method of the invention, the tines are hollow.

According to a seventh variation of the method of the invention, the free ends of the tines are gyrated so that the subterranean part of each tine rotates about a fulcrum creating an enlarged hole, essentially shaped like two hollow overlapping cones placed end to end in either an essentially vertically plane or an angled plane with an open end at the upper end (peat / soil surface).

According to an eighth variation of the method of the invention, the enlarged holes extend downwards essentially to / into the water table.

According to a ninth variation of the method of the invention, means are provided to scoop out parts of the peat / soil surface to create shallow scrapes'.

According to a tenth variation of the method of the invention, the enlarged holes and hollow scrapes are provided mixed together across the whole surface area of the bog / compartment of the bog, the relative proportions of holes and scrapes being varied according to the particular conditions of the bog I compartment of the bog.

According to an eleventh variation of the method of the invention, enlarged holes and scrapes are provided as a regular, or irregular, matrix across the whole area of the bog I compartment of bog to be reseeded and revegetated.

According to a twelfth variation of the method of the invention, rainfall will collect in the enlarged holes forming mini-reservoirs in the bog subsoil and in the scrapes forming pools in the surface.

According to a thirteenth variation of the method of the invention, the shallow scrapes act as seeding sites among the enlarged hole mini-reservoirs.

According to a fourteenth variation of the method of the invention, the shallow scrapes are essentially saucer-shaped.

According to a fifteenth variation of the method of the invention, the saucer-shaped scrapes are created by excavation of part of the bog surface or by pressing a member into the bog surface or by a combination of both.

According to a sixteenth variation of the method of the invention, seed is harvested from a donor site.

According to a seventeenth variation of the method of the invention, the seed is transported to the receptor site as chopped fragments either as a dry mass or in water.

According to an eighteenth variation of the method of the invention, the seed is chopped or liquidised, according to the particular requirements of the receptor site, and prepared as an aqueous slurry.

According to a nineteenth variation of the method of the invention, the chopped or liquidised seed slurry is sown by spraying onto the prepared receptor site.

According to a twentieth variation of the method of the invention and where the peat bog is permanently wetted, preferred seed is I are a pioneer variety(ies) of Sphagnum moss, such as S. cuspidatum and I or S. recurvum.

According to a twenty first variation of the method of the invention and where the peat bog is alternatively wetted and dried, preferred seed is I are a follow-on variety(ies) of Sphagnum moss, such as S. pappilosum or S. magellanicum.

In a preferred application of the method of invention, an essentially dried peat bog is rewetted by firstly damming any I the drainage ditches at a plurality of points to form a series of lengths in which rain and runoff water can collect. Peat, from borrow pits, is used to create the dams and the borrow pits are preferably incorporated into the water collection parts of the ditch. Any pre-existing vegetation on the ground to be used as a borrow pit is removed as a turf / turves', stored and re-laid, preferably on the side(s) of the borrow pit, when the dam is completed. Secondly, a matrix of mini-reservoirs is created across the whole area to be treated by driving tines into the peat, ideally as deep as the water table, and gyrating the tines to enlarge the hole, ideally into a hollow double conical form. When rain falls, it will collect in the enlarged holes to form mini-reservoirs therein.

Between the matrix of mini-reservoirs, shallow scrapes are provided as seeding sites.

These shallow, saucer-shaped scrapes are either excavated from or pressed into the peat surface. The whole prepared area now forms a regular, or irregular, matrix of mini-reservoirs and scrapes, all of which will act as seed I fragment receptor foci when the whole prepared area is reseeded with a suitable species of Sphagnum moss. After rainfall, or before if the ground is wet, the seed diasporas will germinate and / or fragments will strike in the prepared loci. The scrapes provide the best germination I striking sites as they have better daylight but germination / striking will also occur on the sides of the mini-reservoir holes. Thus, germination / striking will potentially occur across the whole of the prepared site.

Seed is harvested from a donor site and transported to the receptor site, where it is sown by spraying as an aqueous slurry over the prepared receptor site to await the next rainfall, after which germination / striking will commence.

The method of the invention is applicable to whole sites or parts of sites where there are local dearths of vegetation. In this latter case, there may be no drainage ditches and rewetting will be solely via the mini-reservoirs and scrapes.

For a clearer understanding of the invention and to show how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example only to the accompanying drawings in which:-Figure 1 is a plan view of a bog after peat harvesting has been completed, showing the traditional method of re-wetting (top -prior art) and the method of the invention (bottom); Figure 2 is a plan view of a unit of the re-wetting method of the invention as shown in the lower part of Fig. 1; Figure 3 is a sectional elevation through the peat bog of Fig. 1 along the line AA; Figure 4 is a sectional elevation through the peat bog of Fig. 1 showing tine 16 being inserted 18 into peat bog 1; Figure 5 is a sectional elevation through the peat bog of Fig. 1 showing tine 16 being gyrated 23 in the peat to create the double conical hole 25 of the invention; Figure 6 is a sectional elevation through the peat bog of Fig. 1 showing two adjacent double conical holes 25 and a saucer-shaped scrape 30 located midway between the holes; Figure 7 is a sectional elevation of a saucer-shaped depression into which seed has been sown; Figure 8 is a sectional elevation of a saucer-shaped depression in which the seed from Fig. 7 has rooted and is growing; and Figure 9 is a plan view of one possible application of the invention to the site after completion of the preparation and seed sowing work.

In the following description, the same reference numeral is used for identical parts in different Figures or for different items fulfilling an identical function.

Fig. 1 shows a peat bog I from which all the easily removable peat has been taken.

Drainage ditches 3 and 4 extend across bog 1 from one side 2 to the other 2 and have effectively drained bog 1. Ditch spacing 5 is such as to allow the peat harvesting machines to make a number of passes between adjacent pairs of ditches 3, 4. The conventional method by which such a denuded bog I may be rejuvenated is to dam 6 the ends of ditch 3. This creates a long length 8 in which rainwater can collect and commence re-wetting the peat on either side. Unfortunately, as ditch 3 normally has an inclination, the rainwater tends to collect at one end and in a few small pools along the bottom. This has only a minimal effect in raising the water table of the bog 1 and so it will take many years before any effective re-wetting will have occurred.

A further factor which impairs re-wetting is that the surface of bog 1 will have been flattened by the passage of the harvesting machines and smoothed by the action of the cutting heads, leaving a dry, essentially level surface from which most of the incident rainfall will run off into the ditches 3, 4.

The lower part of Fig. 1 shows the method of damming ditch 4 according to the invention.

Here, multiple dams 7 are constructed at short spacings 9. The actual spacing 9 is chosen according to the inclination of ditch 4 but spacings 9 of 6-lOm are ideal, so that as many pools of water as practicable can be obtained along the length of ditch 4. Dams 7 are constructed using peat from borrow pits 10. Where there is already some vegetation on the ground where pit 10 is to be dug, the vegetation, and peat in which it is growing, is removed as turves', e.g. like a turf of grass. The turves are placed nearby while the underlying peat is excavated and built into dam 7. Then, ideally, the turves are placed on the sides and bottom of borrow pit 10, where they will re-grow into the subsoil. Borrow pits 10 will form swales as a part of the water collecting pools in the ditch 4, as shown. Fig. 2 shows a larger representation of single repeating unit of dams 7 and borrow pit 10.

Fig. 3 shows a sectional elevation through bog I where two ditches 3A and 3B are filled with water 11 which exerts a hydro-dynamic pressure 14 proportional to the water depth.

The water table is shown by dashed line 13 and symbol 12 indicates the large separation distance 5 of ditches 3A and 3B. Even though Fig. 3 shows ditches 3 essentially full of water 11, the difficulty of water 14 wetting and infusing into peat volume 1 indicates how little effective wetting will occur with this simple traditional approach, i.e. how long the natural process will take. The relative length of arrows 14 indicates the increasing hydrostatic pressure with depth of water 11 but, frequently, ditches 3A, 3B have only a little water in the bottom, often all pooled at one end. The incorporation of multiple dams 7 and swales in borrow pits 10 enables many more pools of water to be provided along a ditch 4 so that the wetting effect will be maximised.

In order to wet the whole volume of the peat bog 1, across width 5, ditches 3, 4 are supplemented with additional holes I 8A, provided by driving hollow tines 16 into peat 1 (Fig. 4). As tine 16 is driven downwards 18 a core of peat 17 will collect inside hollow tine 16. This will eject 19 the core 19 from the previous hole.

When tine 16 has reached its full depth, the exposed end 16A (Fig. 5) is moved round in a circle 23 via a member 22 and connection 21. This will cause the underground part 16B of tine 16 to gyrate about a fulcrum 24, some distance below the surface 15 of peat 1. The result is that a double ended conical hole 25 will be created. Fig. 5 attempts to represent this with tine 16 shown in two positions 16' and 16" (dashed lines). The bottom of conical hole 25 is shown 25A and the gyration of tine 16 will break any connection 20 (Fig.4) between the peat 17 in the bore of tine 16 and the bulk of peat 1. Thus, when conical hole is completed, tine 16 may be withdrawn with the peat core 17 remaining therein to be ejected as the next hole is created (Fig. 4).

The tine operating apparatus (not shown) also includes apparatus (not shown) for scooping out shallow scrapes of peat / soil; these are shown 30 in Fig. 6. This apparatus (not shown) may be a scoop, a rotary cutting device or a means to exert pressure normally onto the peat/ soil surface 15, or a combination of these. A number of items of the tine operating apparatus (not shown) and a number of items if the scrape scooping apparatus (not shown) would be located together as a combined mechanism (not shown) on a tracked vehicle (not shown) so that, as the tracked vehicle (not shown) is driven forward, it may be stopped periodically and numbers of mini-reservoirs and scrapes created at each stopping point. The mechanism would be such that mini-reservoirs 25 and scrapes 30 could be created on either a rectangular or a diamond pattern across the bog I compartment of a bog as required (Fig. 9).

Fig. 6 is a section through peat bog 1 and shows how much larger holes 25 are than ones 18A which would be left by simply inserting 18A tine 16 and pulling it straight out again.

Not only is the water storage volume 26 much greater but the diameter 33 of the capture hole, at up to 3 inches (8cm) allows much more rain to be collected. While all water 26 in hole 25 will be protected from evaporation by overblowing winds, the double conical nature of hole 25 means that water in the bottom half will be particularly secure and useful 28 in raising the level of water table 13. As before, arrows 27 and 28 indicate the hydrostatic water pressure variation. Holes 25 are shown (Fig. 6) spaced 29 about 16 inches (40cm) apart on a rectangular pitch (Fig. 9), thus creating a matrix of underground mini-reservoirs 25, from which minimal evaporation will occur and the majority of the water 26 will move into the bulk of peat I by capillary action and be available for rooting and revegetation.

Holes 25 are about 14 inches (35cm) deep and should enter, or be very close to, water table 13 at the bottom. As shown (Fig. 6), water pressure 28 at the bottom of holes 25 should play a disproportionately greater role in rewetting peat 1 than that at shallower depths 27.

Saucer-shaped scrapes 30 in the surface 15 of peat 1 would be about 5-6 inches (12-15cm) in diameter by about 2-3 inches (5-8cm) deep. Fig. 6 shows the close spacing 29 of mini-reservoirs 25 with scrapes 30 midway between. Arrows 27 and 28 show respectively moisture percolating sideways and upwards into bulk peat 1, which will supplement water moving downwards 40 from pools 37 in scrapes 30. Thus, the relatively small bulk of peat 1A between holes 25 (Fig. 6) will quite quickly become moist enough to support seedlings 38 (Fig. 8) once they have germinated.

As the seed and fragments are broadcast, they will land anywhere and everywhere. Figs. 7 and 8 show one such scrape at two periods in time. In Fig. 7, sphagnum moss fragment 36 has landed in a scrape 30A and is floating on water 37. It is not in contact with peat 1A and so cannot root. However, wind 35, blowing overhead, will move fragment 36 to the edge of pool 37, where (designated) 38, it will root 38A in peat / soil 1A (Fig. 8).

This illustrates a critical aspect of the invention; seed / fragment 36 cannot root unless in contact with soft peat and in the presence of water, i.e. at / near the edge of a pool 30, and in full daylight. Figs. 7 and 8 show ideal conditions for rooting; as the water level in pools 37 falls, the whole area of scrapes 30 will become available for seed growth. With previous methods of re-seeding I revegetation, much of the seed will have been blown 35 away before it has had time to root. Scrapes 30 will act both to catch wind-blown seed and retain it even if scrape 30 happens be dry at the time. Sphagnum moss seed can withstand drought for significant periods of time and will be re-activated once the rains come but it can only root if in a favourable location, e.g. scrapes 30. Ideally, holes 25 and scrapes 30 will alternate across bog 1 (Fig. 9) so that revegetation will be essentially uniform across the whole area. The hole 25/ scrape 30 matrix spacing 29 at about 16 inches (40cm) is a practical value, enabling holes 25 to be created without collapsing into adjacent holes 25 and for the passage of the tracked vehicle (not shown) which will make the holes 25, scrapes 30 and sow the seed, ideally in a single pass.

Traditional damming 6 of ditches 3 is a very inefficient way of re-wetting a peat bog 1. Not only will relatively little water collect in ditch 3 but overblowing winds 35 will cause much evaporation of what water there is. The reason for this is because ditch 3 is wide 39, so that wind 35 can swirl down into the bottom of ditch 3; if wind 35 is blowing longitudinally along ditch 3, the rate of evaporation will be even greater. Certainly, water 37 in scrapes will evaporate quickly in a wind 35 but water in holes 25 will not. Thus, in the method of the invention, the peat 1A in small blocks, i.e. cubes 29 x 29 x 34 deep (Figs. 6, 9) will be rewetted from the sides 27, from below 28 and from above 40 after rain; from a practical point of view, this is the optimum possible.

Inside holes 25, humid air will form above the water 26. Some of the broadcast seed I fragments will land in holes 25, either on the upper conical sides or on the surface of water 26. Despite the reduced light levels, seed / fragments in contact with peat 1A will root I strike in the humid environment and grow upwards towards the better light.

Seed is collected as diaspores by a process similar to mowing a lawn but with the cutter set high, so that a viable stem is left behind to re-grow on the donor site. Unlike grass, sphagnum moss, and related species, cannot be cut down to near ground level, as the stems will die. Instead, a 2-3 inch (5-8cm) stem length should be left. However, the fragments cut off can be finely chopped into 1-10mm lengths, or even liquidised, and will still remain viable seed diaspores. It is important, however, that the seed reaches the receptor site in good condition.

In a preferred application of the method of the invention, a specialist tracked vehicle (not shown) has a mechanism (not shown) mounted at the front to create holes 25 and scrapes and a seed sowing apparatus (not shown) at the rear so that the whole operation may be accomplished in a single pass. (The specialist vehicle used will have very wide tracks so that is exerts an exceptionally low ground pressure and will not collapse holes 25 or scrapes 30 and will cause no, or negligible, damage to any seedlings.) For reseeding areas which are both alternatively wet and dry, S. pappilosum or S. magellanicum are preferred varieties of Sphagnum species. As soon as the seed is cut, it will commence to decompose, i.e. compost. Thus, if the prepared seed is harvested only, say, 15 minutes transport time from the receptor site, it can be transported dry and immediately placed in the seed I fragment hopper on the tractor and sowing commenced.

Sowing can by broadcasting or, preferably, the seed / fragments can be mixed with water, chopped, or liquidised, and sprayed as a slurry. Sphagnum species will re-grow from miniscule seed I fragment diasporas; furthermore, even if dried out, the seed will retain its viability for a significant length of time. Very small seed has the advantage that it is less affected by wind 35; however, if it is blown or lands in a dry crevice, the chances of germination could be small.

If the transport time is likely to be more than about 15 minutes, the cut seed is placed in water at the donor site, as soon as practicable after harvesting, and chopped or liquidised.

Degradation of the seed, e.g. composting, relies on free oxygen, so immersing in water greatly slows decomposition, allowing longer transport times with minimal loss of seed vitality. The seed / fragment slurry would be placed in the seed hopper and sprayed out behind the tracked vehicle, as described above.

Where receptor sites are usually, or permanently, wet, perhaps also with pools of stagnant water, damming 7 would not normally be required but the creation of mini-reservoirs is advisable and creating scrapes 30 are certainly beneficial as these will form mini-pools for germination. Pioneer varieties of Sphagnum species, such as S. cuspidatum and / or S. recurvum are preferred seed types. These might have to be harvested by hand but would be liquidised and the seed / fragment diaspores sown by spraying.

The description so far has been addressed to reseeding and revegetation of whole areas of harvested peat bogs. If the site is only partly in need of regeneration, e.g. it might be a SSSI, probably only creating mini-reservoirs 25 and germination scrapes 30 and reseeding would be required. Similarly, if the seed in a part of a larger reseeded area did not germinate, it could be reseeded.

On blanket bogs, in particular, where degraded areas of peat have started to re-vegetate and re-wet through previous damming of drainage ditches, but with species which are not preferred i.e., later serial vegetation types, and where sphagnum species are absent, it will be most appropriate to reintroduce Sphagnum by retro-seeding'. Here, seed and vegetative fragments of sphagnum will be harvested, as taught above, and then seeded into the pools of water, created by dams 7, using a tracked vehicle (not shown) with a specifically mounted spraying mechanism. This technique can be applied during the building of dams 7 in drainage ditches 4 thereby kickstarting the process of active bog formation through sphagnum re-seeding.

The skilled man will know how to adapt the principles taught above to any particular site, or part / compartment of a site, in order to revegetate an area and improve the environment.

Claims

Claims:- 1 A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentiaHy dry peat bog, or the like, comprising the steps of:-i) providing means to wet I rewet the whole of the area; ii) providing seeding sites, appropriately spaced across the area, where water can pool and remain, said pools having circumferential edges; and iii) reseeding the area so that the seed will be introduced to said pools, become established at the edges and root into the moist soil at those locations; characterised in that the wetting I rewetting of the bog is both by raising the water table upwards from below, laterally from the sides, as well as downwards from the top via the pools and that reseeding is applied to the whole surface area of the bog, or compartments of the bog, and that the seed is provided with definite locations in which to root into the wetted surface of the peat I soil and thrive in this wetted surface until the water table reaches a suitable level to provide a permanent water supply.
2. A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means to wet / rewet the bog includes damming the drainage ditch(es) at a plurality of points along its I their length.
3. A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, as claimed in claim 2, wherein the damming of the drainage ditch(es) includes excavating peat from borrow pits at the sides of the drainage ditch(es).
4. A method of reseeding and revegetatiori of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, as claimed in claim 3, wherein the borrow pits open into the drainage ditch(es) forming swales to enable greater wafer ingress to the body of the bog.
5. A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, as claimed in claim 4, wherein any vegetation on the area to be excavated as a borrow pit is removed in turves', stored and the turves are re-laid on the sides / bottom of the borrow pit when the excavation I dam is completed.
6. A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the means to wet I rewet the bog includes spiking the ground with tines.
7. A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, as claimed in claim 6, wherein the tines are hollow.
8. A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, S or the like, as claimed in claim 7, wherein the free ends of the tines are gyrated so that the subterranean part of each tine rotates about a fulcrum creating an enlarged hole, essentially shaped like two hollow overlapping cones placed end to end in either an essentially vertically plane or an angled plane with an open end at the upper end (peat / soil surface).
9. A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, as claimed in claim 8, wherein the enlarged holes extend downwards essentially to I into the water table.
10. A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein means are provided to scoop out parts of the peat I soil surface to create shallow scrapes'.
11. A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the enlarged holes and hollow scrapes are provided mixed together across the whole surface area of the bog / compartment of the bog, the relative proportions of holes and scrapes being varied according to the particular conditions of the bog I compartment of the bog.
12. A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, as claimed in claim 11, wherein enlarged holes and scrapes are provided as a regular, or irregular, matrix across the whole area of the bog I compartment of bog to be reseeded and revegetated.
13. A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, as claimed in claim 12, wherein rainfall will collect in the enlarged holes forming mini-reservoirs in the bog subsoil and in the scrapes forming pools in the surface.
14. A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, as claimed in claim 13, wherein the shallow scrapes act as seeding sites among the enlarged hole mini-reservoirs.
15. A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, as claimed in claim 14, wherein the shallow scrapes are essentially saucer-shaped.s
16. A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, as claimed in claim 15, wherein the saucer-shaped scrapes are created by excavation of part of the bog surface or by pressing a member into the bog surface or by a combination of both.
17. A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein seed is harvested from a donor site.
18. A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, as claimed in claim 17, wherein the seed is transported to the receptor site as chopped fragments either as a dry mass or in water.
19. A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, as claimed in claims 17 or 18, wherein the seed is chopped or liquidised, according to the particular requirements of the receptor site, and prepared as an aqueous slurry.
20. A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, as claimed in claim 19, wherein the chopped or liquidised seed slurry is sown by spraying onto the prepared receptor site.
21. A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of a permanently wetted peat bog, or the like, as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the preferred seed is / are a pioneer variety(ies) of Sphagnum moss, such as S. cuspidatum and / or S. recurvum.
22. A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, as claimed in any preceding claim 1, and where the peat bog is alternatively wetted and dried, the preferred seed is I are a follow-on variety(ies) of Sphagnum moss, such as S. pappilosum or S. magellanicum.
23. A method of reseeding and revegetation of an area of an essentially dry peat bog, or the like, as described in and by the above description with reference to the accompanying drawings.