Ragwort Pick

Preparing the Site

Now that negotiations with the Woodland Trust are at their final stages, a few volunteers have been busy today pulling up ragwort from the area allocated for the Community Orchard in Thorn Wood.

We are trying to re-establish the wild flower orchard at Thorn Wood before planting apple trees during the dormant season this autumn.  We have been advised  to remove as much ragwort as possible, as it tends to take over, and crowd out the other plants. Also ragwort is poisonous to livestock when eaten, so there is a legal requirement to keep it under control (Ragwort Control Act 2003 )

Senecio Jacobaea Jacobaea ( Ragwort )
Ragwort
“Image copyright Christian Fischer [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons”

A small group of us spent one and a half hours this afternoon removing ragwort from the land that the Woodland Trust have agreed to lease us.  However, a lot more needs to be done..

Volunteers Needed Thursday Evening

If you could spare an hour (or slightly more) on Thursday 2nd July at 7.30p.m. we would be very grateful.  Please note that ragwort is poisonous, and it is advisable to wear gloves as some people may be sensitive to it.  A garden fork is helpful, but not essential.  The larger plants (and there are plenty of them) are easily pulled out.  Those of us with a fork can remove the smaller plants.

We will meet at Thorn Wood at 7.30-p.m. this Thursday, 2nd July.  Pedestrian access from Northwich Rd.  The land we will be weeding is on Right hand side of diagonal path as you enter.

 

 

 

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