Completing a second glade

We returned to the same site as last week with Glorious Grasslands to continue the restoration of glades within a woodland area along the valley floor. We had seed this week, so we could seed the area prepared last week and then do the same with the new area today.

The new section was about 100m further on, and in addition to a twisted tangle of elder, blackthorn and bramble, there was a giant hazel which would be shading out the grassland.

There were quite a few of us, so we set to work cutting through the main boundary with hand tools.

It always seems a daunting task when you first see it, but amazing how quickly a team of people can clear an area. We stacked the arisings in a dead hedge by the river boundary and also on the main path for clearance by the farmer.

By tea break, the main area was cleared. So Chris and I could brush cut that down to the ground while the others went to check on areas we had managed in previous seasons. That then enabled final raking and clearing for the glade and also made room for the large hazel to be coppiced.

Anna had the chain saw, and was able to reduce it piece by piece while we cleared the branches away. In the end, it was reduced to a stump, but that was too large for the electric chainsaw to grind down to a stool.

We seeded the area and finished up by 3pm. This was a good start to the winter habitat management season with two sizeable areas of grassland restored for next season.