I spent half a day this week hand weeding and pulling grass from around a recently planted native trees area of a West Cork farm.
There is a scheme in Ireland called Acres. If you join the scheme the farmer or land owner will get a payment for five years. I believe it's a very good payment to plant trees on your own land.
The trees have got to be native and every year I am employed to weed and pull grass around them.
A hawthorn tree after it weeding operation.
I was sweating like mad but thankfully there was some what of a breeze and I took two small bottles of Lucozade with me to quench my thirst.
Unfortunately you can not strim around the trees because you would ring bark them and kill them. Like wise you can't graze the long grass because there are no plastic rabbit guards around the trees and livestock would ring bark them
So I spent the best part of four hours day dreaming, getting bit by Doctor flies and my uncovered arms were scratched and bleeding and I had to listen to my thoughts for a few hours.
Ozzy Osbourne played on my mental jukebox for the duration of my task. Who needs to play music when your head plays it for free?
It's a hard job but someone got to do it!
Would you hand weed lots of native trees for a few beer tokens?
It's more than beer tokens, it's a future landmark, in your place I would do the same.
ReplyDeleteVery true Marlene. Perhaps I should advertise Autumn tree planting and tree weeding service in the summer time?
DeleteYou can get shields that you place around the tree then strim - and move the shield to the next (and so on). It seems the hard way to do it by hand (says she who is removing dense blackberry and gorse from an acre of land by hand with a mattock). If there was an easier way… (the mulching machines just chop the tops, the roots still need to come out.)
ReplyDeleteA lot of the trees are planted too close to strim. Grass chokes them until they grow higher than the grass. I have seen sheep fleeced used to mulch trees. If they were min I would put cardboard around them and mulch with well rotted fym or compost, I try to use organic gardening methods. Have you seen the extractigators you can rent or buy for removing Furze? There are videos of them on You Tube.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea to keep the land covered in native forest. Good on you Dave for helping. I hope you get well paid for the weeding.
ReplyDeleteYes it is a good idea to plant trees Linda. My labour prices are very affordable for anyone.
ReplyDeleteYes I would certainly hand weed young trees if that was one of the community service options offered by my probation officer.
ReplyDeleteDo they let you choose from a list of current unpaid vacancies?
DeleteRemoving graffiti, addressing sites popular with flytippers, jetwashing chewing gum from pavements, leafleting for The Tory Party or weeding around saplings? I would choose the last one every time.
DeleteCould deliveringTory leaflets be another example of fly tipping domestic properties?
DeleteHard work Dave. You'll need more than Lucozade after that.
ReplyDeleteOr lagersade even JayCee. Is it beer 🍺 o'clock?
ReplyDelete