Ragwort 2 The Sequel

July 2023. In preparation for cutting the long parkland grasses (hopefully for use as hay feed and/or mulching), our attention turned once again to spotting and removing the toxic ragwort. Some work had already been undertaken in various sections of the park, however this time we were concentrating around the picnic area. A lot of the park had seen quite a reduction in ragwort growth following our previous efforts to eradicate this.

For a comparatively small area, there was quite a large amount of ragwort. In order to remove it by the root, you need to pull as near to the ground as possible. This is easier said than done as you're wading through grass which is around 5ft tall. At this time of year, the park is alive with wild flowers, moths, butterflies etc, so you're soon covered in seeds of all sorts plus the odd bug or two!

There were at least 20 bundles like this.

Opposite: A Cinnabar caterpillar

 

One of the many Burnet moths

We still managed to oil a few of the wooden sculptures before the day was out.

There was a break before the next planned work, so I decided on a litter pick. However, soon after entering the park via Church Street, I noticed a few patches of ragwort emerging from the long grass and decided to tackle this first. Every time I thought I'd got it all, another patch would appear and I ended up with quite a bundle.

As I was heading to the lodge with my heavy load, I noticed that some of the parkland meadow had been harvested.

As you can see, there were quite a lot of bales, even the dogs were showing an interest! It was then that the farmer arrived and started loading them onto a trailer.

I believe that the bales are to be stored for haylage (a grass silage that is used as a winter feed and more digestible than hay itself).

After dropping off the ragwort, I managed to fill a couple of sacks with litter but not before spotting some unusual looking inkcap mushrooms which had risen from the grass cuttings that we scattered into the woods about a month ago.

My last attendance of July involved the annual pressure washing of the main gates by the South Lodge entrance. Algae was once again covering large areas of the metal gates. It takes a while for Amy and myself to sort out extension cables & hoses, and the area needs to be cordoned off. Needless to say, this is a full day's work.

                        Spray that again!

Look out for my next post in a few weeks time.