Rhododendron Bashing at Coed y Cwm Nature Reserve 25-02-12

This Saturday (25/02/2012) saw the return of our volunteers to Coed y Cwm, to help with the control of rhododendron, an invasive Himalayan species that has, unfortunatly, spread throughout the UK since its introduction in the Victorian times. This invasive plant is a particular problem in acid woodlands, where it out competes our native species

It was another day which saw us lopping away at the the bushes to get them down to a point where we could then saw the main stems down to ground level and then using mattocks to dig out their root balls, which spread laterally rather than deep down. While most of our volunteers went to work cutting, a small group went about burning what ACV had cut a few weeks before.

A big thanks goes out to our volunteers who gave up their Saturday, to come on task to get the work done!!