Weeding the bush

A stunning autumn day. No wind, few sandflies and the air shining. Our mission was to continue the gorse attack.

The council has issued a notice to clear or spray all gorse and broom 10m back from the middle of the road. Or else we are liable for a fine. For the past few visits we have been hand spraying with a newly aquired backpack spray tank.

It is not the ideal time to do this- spring with all the fresh shoots is best. Hopefully now with the addition of a penetrant the spray will get into the tougher dormant foilage and kill it.

Along the inside of the fence we are clearing a strip which will allow for easy future access to further spray when the time is neccessary. It is fun- our weapons: choppers, saws, loppers and energy. A line is opens out quite fast and we feel like real pioneers. Also it is in an area we rarely have set  foot in so it feels like an adventure.

When we arrived we had a small setback as we discovered that the sheep had eaten some young trees again. They’d pushed their determined bodies through the fence wire and nibbled all the tops of the outer row of trees.

A steep learning curve – after a bit of despair we set about to weave sticks into the wire fence to create extra barriers and also it has tightened the wire. Sheep proof for sure now.

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