How to manage a brackeny field

[stripee]

This sloping field is largely covered with bracken but has some parts of old pasture left with anthills. Rabbits keep the grass down. There is scrub, gorse, blackthorn and hawthorn and oak is coming back.
So is it most useful for wildlife to give up and let the field revert to woodland which it's trying to do...and is bracken useful to wildlife for cover? Or should I try to clear the vegetation and get more of the old field back? I cut bracken every year, it's hard to make a big difference to it, apart from some strips.

[tufftie]

Guess it depends on what wildlife is already there but think i would let it revert back to woodland We need more woodland and it's great for wildlife!

[aeshna5]

[quote=stripee;230306]

I think you need to know what wildlife you have before (not) doing anything. Yes woodland can be rich for wildlife, but sometimes secondary woodland can be disappointing with only common, widespread species. As canopy closes you will probably lose a lot of wildlife that may be more interesting. A mosaic of habitats may be better- try + get some local experts to have a look at what you've got.

Bracken usually needs control as it is an invasive thug, but some of our rarest butterflies need it- some of the fritillaries feed on violets that grow under the bracken + the litter of the latter provide a warm microclimate for the larvae to survive.

Keep us up to speed, but I feel some management would be much better than leaving to revert to secondary woodland.

This sloping field is largely covered with bracken but has some parts of old pasture left with anthills. Rabbits keep the grass down. There is scrub, gorse, blackthorn and hawthorn and oak is coming back.
So is it most useful for wildlife to give up and let the field revert to woodland which it's trying to do...and is bracken useful to wildlife for cover? Or should I try to clear the vegetation and get more of the old field back? I cut bracken every year, it's hard to make a big difference to it, apart from some strips

[Cotham Marble]

[quote=stripee;230306
This sloping field is largely covered with bracken but has some parts of old pasture left with anthills. Rabbits keep the grass down. There is scrub, gorse, blackthorn and hawthorn and oak is coming back.
So is it most useful for wildlife to give up and let the field revert to woodland which it's trying to do...and is bracken useful to wildlife for cover? Or should I try to clear the vegetation and get more of the old field back? I cut bracken every year, it's hard to make a big difference to it, apart from some strips.[/QUOTE]

Agree entirely with aeshna's advice, particularly about getting local expert views - there's almost certainly a Wildlife Trust for your area and the Local Authority may have a Wildlife Officer.

The key thing is to look at how your site fits in with the surrounding area. As you are in West Wales I doubt there is any lack of bracken around but perhaps bracken in the mix with the other plants you have is in short supply. Certainly just leaving the site to its own devices is unlikely to provide optimal wildlife value. For instance my observations on a similar site in South Wales are that while Oak seedlings are plentiful they rarely survive more than a couple of years either being outcompeted by more vigorous plants or simply being grazed to extinction by deer and rabbits.

Until you get a clear management plan in place it is probably worthwhile keeping the bracken in check as best you can.

CM

[stripee]

Thank you both for valuable and interesting replies. The gorse and blackthorn are difficult to keep under control as they spread out from their parent bushes and are spikey and hard to cut. The bracken I cut all summer long, and we have some other fields that we have managed to regain some of the old pasture. But there are several others that have grown oak and are covered with woody vegetation and are too far gone now. I particularly want to keep the ant hills as there are alot of them and they are quite big, also the snakes which like the sunny grassy parts, and if possible some of the wax cap fungi that grow there. The trouble is the task is slightly overwhelming once everything takes off in the summer - it all looks nice and clear now before it starts growing! If I leave the areas cleared for one year only the bracken is back as if it had never been cut. But I have noticed woodcock flying out of it, and we get a fritillary butterfly which I think is the one that uses the bracken.
I will try and get someone to advise on management.

[almostnormal]

the butterfly management thing can be quite tricky (i was dismayed at just how complicated it is for high brown frits for example). I found that butterfly conservation were really helpful, and can give you loads of advice about the butterflies in your area etc. great website as well

Home - Butterfly Conservation

sarah

[stripee]

Thanks Sarah, I will look into the butterfly side of things Here is a photo I took last August, I think it could be a Silver-washed Fritillary when I looked it up, but not sure.

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by stripee

Thanks Sarah, I will look into the butterfly side of things Here is a photo I took last August, I think it could be a Silver-washed Fritillary when I looked it up, but not sure.

Don't know about the butterfly but that some interesting looking sward, certainly worth protecting from being overrun by bracken. One alternative to mid season cutting might be to try 'bruising' the new shoots as they appear, for small areas this can be done with a spade, simply knocking the heads off when they are a few centimetres high. This has the advantage of not producing cut material which has to be cleared away, also of reduced exposure to ticks and to spore dust. To have effect though it does need to be repeated with in a month.

CM

[stripee]

I will try anything, Cotham Marble, the bracken is extremely strong by June, and I'm often cutting it in the same place where its sent up another shoot...it's like a battle! I love meadow flowers, and want to get more summer ones coming up. Thanks for your help