The Old Head of
Kinsale Golf Course
The Old Head was sown with DBN wildflowers in 1996-1997.
Sorry we have no photographs, yet, (just haven't got
around to entering them yet) but there is 300 acres of wildflowers
on the golf course.
Ecologist Tom O' Byrne (Cork) has helped the Old head
recover to a semi natural state after the initial works.
The Staff of DBN believe that the site of the Old
Head has been changed so much that only native species will survive in the
long term.
The site was a heathland with a salt pan and there were
huge amounts of herbicide and fertiliser applied when we sowed the course.
As a result I imagine that the combination of groundwater spraying,
chemicals and sea salts will all lead to returning the site to a
heathland, however the chemical composition of the soil will be different,
therefore we sowed species that were salt tolerant and heathland friendly.
There were many existing wild species on site and
cultivars such as thrift escaped from formal plantings and ran riot. What
a place, I can wait to return to see the effect of our planting.
A huge range of species were tried, across the entire course.
Even the
cliffs under the light house were sown.
This site is an exception in Ireland and the results should to be
viewed with experiment in mind!
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