UKH

I've noticed the bracken has got a lot more widespread this year in the lakes, I was speaking to a farmer at Wasdale Head last week and she said that the National Trust now didn't allow them to spray the bracken because of the run-off into the lake.  Most of their lowland grazing has been lost or will be lost next year to bracken.

I spoke about some hardwood tree saplings which had been planted in the bracken in Eskdale with the intention of turning bracken into native woodland, but this is apparently very expensive and clearly wouldn't work to save lowland pasture for the purpose of farming.

Do the NT have a plan for the bracken, or are they planning on letting all the lowland pasture become unviable?  Would this make some/most lakeland farms unviable?

There is clearly a delicate debate to be had here with regard to the degree of human intervention in the landscape, but, letting the bracken go out of control doesn't seem to be a solution that benefits anyone.

I recall seeing bracken being harvested and baled on the slopes above Ullswater a few years ago. It was featured on the telly (Countryfile?) not that long ago. They were making compost for sale with it. I don't know anything about the commercial side of it but it seemed like one way of tackling the spread.

I have a vague recollection that the belted Galloway cattle introduced into ennerdale as part of the re Wilding (eh?) graze on bracken. 

Partial shade will reduce bracken but allow grazing. Cutting it twice a year, every year, will suck the energy out the root system. Cows trample it better than sheep ever will, as sheep graze so tight on the grasses and flowers, it means bracken has the water and nutrients to itself. All this is labour intensive and not for free, there needs to some incentive for landowners. 

This is a great film about how nature can take care of these invasives, in this case, gorse. Creating artificial pasture allows these monocultures to thrive. Something will fill the vacuum. 

youtube.com/watch?v=3VZSJKbzyMc&

Bracken has a co-carcinogen for cattle, which along with papilloma virus results in papillomas turning into upper alimentary tract carcinomas. So not the best option, necessarily.

Great little film, thanks for posting that.

Every day is a school day,thank you.

I have also heard that the spores from bracken are carcinogenic to humans. I am unsure whether this is due to particle size, chemical content or both. Anyone know? 

It's the spores released in July - August depending onlocal climate. Best cut or trampled early and it doesn't get to that stage. If you push through it and you see fine brown dust clouds, hold your breath! 

saw an area of flattened bracken in Borrowdale last week which i reckon was done like this: youtube.com/watch?v=VH8azfROlGs&

That's a beautiful film.  Is there a parallel with lakeland, ie. is their a natural progression from bracken to native woodland in the same way as there is a progression from gorse to native woodland in NZ?

Down here (mendips) the bracken has been cut and made into briquettes for fires, not sure how valuable this could be in the lakes?

What a great film! Thank you.

I rarely bother clicking links, but after the positive comments I thought I'd take a look. Glad I did. Lovely film.

I was just about to say so did I, in Borrowdale too, and then I realised who you are and that I was with you at the time. A small world.

yeah, well worth a watch. if you take out sheep and people, there could be a parallel?

"Bracken (Pteridium) holds a pivotal role in succession, usually occurring in sequence between plagio-climax communities such as heathland and woodland."

https://academic.oup.com/aob/article/85/suppl_2/3/194557

interesting- if bracken can be equated to gorse..

i'd roll the bracken to control, then plant trees to speed up their demise