Devon SSSI nature reserve and eco lodges - Maggie's Blog
21 February
Swaling - or trying to...
We tried to swale some of the culm grassland in our Popehouse Moor SSSI nature reserve today. We've been meaning to do this bit for a while now, but both times we tried earlier in the year it was too sodden. It's still pretty wet underfoot, but warmer and a bit breezier - so worth another go.
We still ended up having to set light to pretty much every tussock as the flames didn't jump and couldn't cope with the damp thatch between clumps. So that's probably only a partial success then. The last time we swaled, in February 2007, it was a different part of the moor and drier. This time we were down the far end which is more shaded and lower. Nothing has been done to this bit since we came here in 2006, and some kind of management is now well over due. What we really want to do is get the cows down this far this year - maybe in the spring to kick it up a bit, maybe in the later summer to graze it down - we'll ask the Devon Wildlife Trust for advice I think.
After the next rain you'll probably hardly be able to tell we burnt this bit - but when it did catch the heat was intense, so we must have got rid of some of the dead grass. That's the idea - to let more light in lower down so flowering plants can compete better with the purple moor grass. At least the dormice won't have suffered too much this time as the burn was so light and their hibernation nests will be down in the damp bases of the clumps.
