If you wander through the churchyard this week you can see some more progress made in controlling the invasive snowberry along the footpath bank.
As well as cutting back the snowberry, some Hazel, Rowan, Downy Birch, Crab Apple and Bird Cherry saplings were planted. It’s essential to replace the snowberry to allow the tree roots to stabilise the bank and prevent erosion.
Yellow Rattle is an annual plant, so named because its flowers are yellow and its seed cases rattle if shaken. It’s partially parasitic on grasses and so reduces their vigour slightly. With the grasses not dominating everything, then other flowers have more of a chance to thrive.
We’ll plant an number of patches through the churchyard this autumn, and hopefully see their pretty flowers and the effect they have on the nearby grass next spring and early summer.
To sow the Yellow Rattle seed an estimated 80 years of mulch and grass cuttings was removed from two strips between three graves.
Huge thanks to Matthew and Louise for their help.
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