Cutting back

Last month the rain gods were kind to the Friends of Three Cornered Copse. One Saturday morning, after a torrential week, the clouds parted and the sun warmed us as we held our Summer workday.

Ten enthusiastic volunteers joined Marie, our allocated Park Ranger for the day, to tackle some of the cutting back on some of the regular pathways through Hove's largest woodland. Equipped with shears, loppers and rakes, our volunteer party reclaimed the bench seats that were being subsumed into the vegetation, re-opened the northern end of the bridle path (which was almost impassable), cut back around the commemorative beeches, which had become covered, and re-found the old coronation stone in the dense undergrowth. Many thanks to all that came along to help, it really does make a difference.

Most of the clearing involved cutting back the brambles and bindweed that had taken over the clearings in the woodland canopy.

Brambles get a mixed press, partly due to their invasiveness, but that they also provide us with blackberries. They're also known as the "mother of oaks", as they provide a protective shield around small oak seedlings, enabling them to grow without being nibbled by deer or other herbivores. We don't get many deer in Three Cornered Copse. so it seems ok to cut the brambles back a little. Over-fertilised soil with increased nitrogen is often attributed as a cause of the recent proliferation of brambles. There also seems to be an epidemic of wild clematis in the lower edges of the woodland. Clematis vitalba is viewed as invasive, but provides pollen for bees and some moth species. It's also known as Old Man's Beard. or Traveller's Joy.

It's difficult to remember a Summer where the vegetation growth has been so prolific. The wet Spring has helped. and also the spaces cleared by the Ash Dieback surgery, letting light onto the areas which would have been in shade for the summer.

Recently, Stanmer Park has been closed for Ash Dieback clearance. It's a vastly larger area than our copse, so the devastation will be much more severe. Sadly, the nesting season is still in progress, so it's unfortunate that the project has not waited until Autumn. The disruption to a woodland is significant, as we have learned from recent experience.

But, thanks to the wet season, the recovery of our woodland is excellent. and very welcome.

Simon Baxendale