Replacing gorse with something else

[nepia]

Good to hear, especially as you're virtually within calling distance!  Thanks.

[openspaceman]

15 minutes ago, nepia said:

 

Does anyone know what's happening to the gorse in Sussex and perhaps elsewhere?  It looks devastated; nearly all the top growth is dead.  We're nearly into June and it's brown, brown, brown.

 

 

Any similar experiences beyond my limited universe?

Yes about 50% of the gorse I see on my walks on the local commons has died off, no sign of fresh sprouts yet either the rest seems unaffected.

 

Broom, another legume, also has a habit of suddenly just up and dying.

[nepia]

Am I just seeing behaviour typical of the species then - something akin to mass death of bamboo (though in that case we know the cause - flowering)?

I need to take a walk on Ashdown Forest and have a look there even if it is - oo - all of 20 minutes drive away!

Edited May 28, 2021 by nepia

[Paul in the woods]

No problems with the gorse on my property. As usual the odd branch has been snapped out and the most exposed have been scorched but there's many that are a lush green.

 

Gorse does seem to be hated by 'conservationists' so it's often sprayed, burnt and mulched.

[nepia]

6 minutes ago, Paul in the woods said:

Gorse does seem to be hated by uninformed 'conservationists' so it's often sprayed, burnt and mulched.!

Glad yours is doing well; we seem not to have Gorse Dieback rampaging through the country 😊

Edited May 28, 2021 by nepia

[Stere]

Quote

I want to plant some different trees along my hedgerow (black locust, service tree etc.) and thought of making space by removing some of the gorse.

 

Did you plant them trees etc and if so how are they doing now?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Actually saw some new gorse planted on purpose on caravan site acess road  verge a few yrs back.

 

 3 different gorse species unsure about UK wide  geographic distribution of them etc...

 

Maybe one types gone brown for some reason but not the other?

 

Gorse (Ulex sp.)

WWW.PLANTLIFE.ORG.UK

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A spiny evergreen shrubs with yellow flowers.

 

 

Drought or ground waterlogged?

[nepia]

Certainly won't have been waterlogging on Beachy Head and the banks I referred to were steep.  The plants weren't young either; those on the Downs were wind-shaped gnarly old things

[spandit]

1 hour ago, Stere said:

 

Did you plant them trees etc and if so how are they doing now?

 

 

I didn't in the end. Realised that I actually like the gorse - it's a good barrier, evergreen, flowers all year round and after cutting it back, it's growing bushier.

 

This is on the top bank of my pond, South facing. Petals are browning off a bit but the foliage is still green. Despite the council's assertions, natural regen seems to be my preferred route - plenty of birch, oak and willow coming up, with the occasional alder (spread from trees I planted, as there were none here when we moved in). All good for wildlife, as far as I can see. I have plenty of habitat piles around too, although the mother-in-law would rather I just burn it all and have the grass clipped to look like Astroturf.

 

 

 

[Stere]

Nice

 

Think I read online somewhere that wild service is now being  grown commercially in plantations in France for the timber and proposed for ireland  but can't find the reference now...

 

Rowans, Whitebeams and Service Trees: The wood of the wild service tree, Sorbus torminalis

ROWANSWHITEBEAMSANDSERVICETREES.BLOGSPOT.COM

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People have asked me about the uses of the wood of the wild service tree and I have mentioned some from time to time in...

 

Might be a good alternative to replace ash?

[openspaceman]

7 hours ago, Paul in the woods said:

No problems with the gorse on my property. As usual the odd branch has been snapped out and the most exposed have been scorched but there's many that are a lush green.

 

Gorse does seem to be hated by 'conservationists' so it's often sprayed, burnt and mulched.

As much of the thames basin heaths are managed by natural england's proxies herbicides may well have been used.

 

A mistake in my view because gorse is an indicator for low nitrogen but good phosphate and potassium availability and cropping by grazing with the minerals being taken off on the hoof would have been how the heath came about.

 

With nitrogen deposition from roads and mycorrhizas mobilising minerals from lower down  just cutting and leaving isn't an option as this increase surface fertility.

 

Locally NE favour scraping to bare soil but this gross approach  with bunding the surface layers causes hydrological changes as well as changing the landscape.

 

I always wanted to harvest the arisings and make a biochar product from the harvested vegetation, this should mimic the long term practice of taking minerals off and using them elsewhere.