Glyphosate and trees

[RichardKing]

I remember over 30 years ago on a steep welsh hillside watching an old shepherd cutting bracken to expose grass for his flock in the traditional way.

Using a large scythe and at walking pace he cleared a field remarkably quickly and and with minimal effort.

As the old Welsh saying goes "Silver under heather, but Gold under bracken"

[andy w]

On the 'eco-friendly' options an old woodsman told me that the best way to deal with bracken was to drag (by tractor, horse, human depending on site) a good-sized blackthorn limb/bush through it early in the season before it gets established with the aim of damaging the stems before the fronds develop fully. As yet I've not had the opportunity to try this myself. Has anyone else?

Asulox is certainly the more common option used but you have to be careful as it also takes out ferns! I was recently on a restock site where bracken is threatening the establishment of the regeneration but there was a good population of nice ferns on site which caused us to think twice about using asulox. There is some useful information on bracken on www.brackencontrol.co.uk

[jillybean]

sorry James, my dyslexyc eye read that as brambles. Ill shut up.

[cstocks]

Patience appears to be the best approach. I have a 'clearing' (about 3000 sq m) in my woodland that was covered in bracken (to a height of 2m+, and to the extent nothing grew underneath). Over the years I've been breaking the tops off the stems as they come up - it's now very much weaker, and grass and heather are flourishing.

Depending on what else you do agriculturally, you may also consider making use of the bracken that does grow. I rake up a lot of the dry stuff every year - I use it: as bedding for my hens (apparently bracken was extensively used for animal bedding in the past because it is much more absorbent than straw); as a mulch on my allotment, where it does a fantastic job of keeping moisture in the soil; and as a soil conditioner in my greenhouse, where it breaks down to provide a rich, friable growing medium (it's slightly acidic, so is well suited to blueberries and strawberries, and my tomatoes and cucumbers seem to do pretty well in it)

I also intend to try letting a couple of very large piles rot down - I understand the well-rotted bracken makes a good seed and potting compost.

None of the agrochemical control techniques are benign from a wider environmental perspective. Even if you keep the glyphosate on the crop and it breaks down into harmless compounds in the soil, the manufacture of it is energy and resource intensive.

I'm assuming that, since this is the SMALL WOODLANDS Owners Group, you're woodland isn't a large commercial enterprise. Given that, is it important that you eradicate all your bracken RIGHT NOW?! Tackle it slowly, and encourage the woodland to encroach on the bracken-infested area - bracken grows very poorly, if at all, under the canopy.

[RichardKing]

A word of warning on raking dry bracken.

Be aware that bracken spores are are known carcinogen & inhaling them is dangerous.

Only collect bracken if it is green, or if is cut & dried before it set spores.