Scything away undesirables
The regular monthly Orchard work party this morning with Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust. The focus was on the ground, rather than trees as the pruning season is now over.
The management plan is to create a species rich meadow in the orchard. We’ve spent a number of years removing scrub and brambles from the main grassland, and there is now a planned cattle grazing regime in place. But patches of larger leafed vegetation such as docks and nettles still persist, as well as creeping thistle.
I took my scythe today, which is the ideal tool for this task. I had the ditch blade fitted, which is a bit more robust than the grass blade. It was then a case of trying to pick out the denser patches, and cut them before they go to seed. We raked off the arisings, and when the cattle come back in, they will probably be able to finish off the job nicely.
It was a beautiful sunny day, and we took a coffee break in the orchard shelter out the sun.
