Woodland Garden Design for ease of maintenance
Hampshire Steve
Posts: 17
Hiya
Bit of a newbie here when it comes to horticulture so please be kind. I have around 3-4 acres of what could be described as a rough "woodland garden" (And a smaller formal garden which is not a problem)
I say this because I just seem to be fighting a war with various types of unwanted plants...as soon as I get rid of the bracken (nearly done), nettles (nearly done), brambles (ongoing) another plant takes hold - the latest being small beech trees (hundreds of them!). It is hard to get tractors/rotovators etc in as the ground was a pine woodland and there are scores of stumps everywhere.
I think (with chemical assistance!) I can hold the unwanted plants at bay but I suspect I should be playing a lot smarter and planting plants that will dominate the ground and at least make it difficult for the nasties. At present I just seem to be constantly battling weeds. i.e. I get rid of one and another immediately takes over next year.
Overall, I just want to area to look nice such that I can cut a path through it and look at something other than weeds when we walk through. NB We already have an acre of more formal garden by the house which my partner looks after very nicely.
I work full time and can afford only limited assistance so need something that can be achieved at weekends.
All ideas from the knowledgeable very welcome! Especially pointers to plants that are prolific ground covererers (Nice to look at would be a bonus)
Cheers
Steve
Posts
I wouldn't tackle too much at once. As soon as you kill anything, something else will move in. I have an ancient hover mower that I use to keep weeds down in areas where hogweed/bramble/nettle have taken over. It sorts out nettles, they can't take mowing.
A photo of what your dealing with would help with suggestions
In the sticks near Peterborough
Good idea pansyface. I wouldn't go down the chemical road anyway. There is no end to that and it's not a joy to behold as the process goes on. That's agricultural practice round here, it looks really naff
In the sticks near Peterborough
Pictures! So obvious I forgot about it - selection just taken below
I cannot believe how fast the brambles have spread so quickly.
The pictures don't really show the scale of the brambles. Something like a solid acre in coverage (of the 4 acres) and I'd guess around 500-1000 plants, some small and some large but far too many for me to dig up. My tactic was to knapsack spray and I will then strim back.
NB The woodland end of the garden sadly got away from us when our gardener got the dreaded "C" and sadly passed away last year
I am happy with a fairly natural looking woodland garden and will probably just make a nice woodland trail all the way through. I'm trying not to think too much about the pretty stuff until I have the bracken, brambles and nettles under control. Two years ago the bracken was dominating but getting rid of this has allowed the brambles in. Undoubtedly, all very obvious to you gardening experts - but I am new to this although hopefully learning all the time.
All help and ideas welcomed?
Steve
PS That smiley was meant to be a frown! (Doesn't seem to be any way of editing a post)
Very acid soil by the looks of it but then you are Hampshire Steve so it is only to be expected. If you are intending to have a proper woodland then you aren't going to get anything to grow under the trees, except in Spring when the light still filters through. Of course, bracken and brambles haven't read the rule book and will need to be eradicated on a weekly basis (I've done it with a sickle but in a much smaller woodland). You could mulch the ground with bark chippings which would give you a decent surface to walk on and keep all but the ghastliest weeds at bay and any grassy areas can be left to grow long with the odd path mowed through. If you are doing a fair bit of pruning it will pay to have your own shredder and that way you will at least get some of your mulch for free..........if you ignore the cost of the shredder.
You could invest in some stock proof fencing and some pigs / boar!
http://www.calu.bangor.ac.uk/Technical leaflets/050203Pigsinwoodlandmanagement.pdf
Thanks for the idea so far. Had considered pigs (goats?) also but they seemed quite a commitment. Also a really good idea about the shredder.
...but 2 acres of solid brambles is not a good starting point. The idea of pulling them all up (and getting all roots) seemed impractical as there weren't just large obvious plants but also hundreds of smaller offshoots coming up. Hence the spraying was suggested by a local ranger as a one off. I will find other ways to manage going forwards.
I'm not trying to control nature
The grassy areas are unaffected by brambles and the reason for posting here was to find ground plants that could be introduced to make it far more difficult for the brambles to get hold. Heather , rhododendron and holly have been suggested but I wondered what other prolific ground plants might be worth introducing.
The area in general is pretty light (the shady woodland picture was posted by a responder!).
Gorse. Goes mad in that sort of soil and looks pretty impressive when its in flower.
Gorse is lovely. That's a good idea.
Gorse. Excellent idea. Think this and Heather are both nice ideas for some quite large borders
With the area I have to cover buying individual plants will not be very economic as I suspect I will need several hundred.
I'm told with Heather you can get "Heather Brash" (full of seeds) and cover quite large areas with say a 1" layer - is there any similar system for Gorse? Any idea where I would source different sorts of brash? A quick "Google" has not brought up much!