Available: the birds are here 😁

I didn't take offense,we only have small woods so there's not much option where the pens go.as for shade tolerance cover the curse of Japanese balsum is on me!.
can't get rid of it🤬.it took me a day of strimming to find my pens and as soon as the birds are in they eat it bare,
 
I didn't take offense,we only have small woods so there's not much option where the pens go.as for shade tolerance cover the curse of Japanese balsum is on me!.
can't get rid of it🤬.it took me a day of strimming to find my pens and as soon as the birds are in they eat it bare,
I fee; your pain - we had a few acres of it - i have battled it for about the last 3/4 years and 99 percent of it is gone!
Better pulling it if you can and breaking the root off below the bottom node - if you strim it can regrow the same year. Pull it and snap it and it dies and wont come back as the same plant - its an annual too so a couple of good years makes a real difference. I always try to do it 2/3 times in the same area just as it is flowering and before any seed pods form. I have this year started pushing it back from the neighbours boundary too - horrible stuff and destroys the land !
 
I had a bare pen but planted a third with Jerusalem artichokes which come up every year regardless, in good years they grew tall, bent over and provided low perching and ground cover. Enough light is always the issue for ground cover.
 
Well ours were due last week of Aug/1st week Sept. Been told today that we can’t have them till last week in Sept
what a waste of time and money that will be.
 
We had good undercover in this pen but then it just died. We do have plenty of felled trees for cover and some brambles - seems to be the only thing that reliably does grow…..and grow! Thankfully our other pen is very different and the ground cover is roughly 80% and up to a metre. Difficult at times to see the birds. Have provided areas for them to sun themselves but it’s a balance. We have at least 3 pairs of buzzards on the shoot but thankfully predation has been relatively low for the last couple of years and we are at risk for a matter of weeks as the poults get too big and mobile for the buzzards.
 
Another thing u can try this year is heaps of brash/branches, if u want to do it over bigger open areas than just wigwams round tree butts knock some stabs or tree stakes in and pull a wire or a rail to act as a ridge beam and lay the brash on forming a brash tent or corridor.
Good early roosting/perching too

I'd also think about scattering some Reed Canary grass about, plenty of bare ground just give a wee rake up althou it takes 2 years to grow, if planted it now might be not bad for next rearing season.

The other thing which is probably against best practice now rhodises or laurel, u can often see clumps growing in random woods but if u look closely quite often either been a pen or flushing point for some old drives.
U just have to keep on top of it.

There is another shrub i forget its name now looks a bit like box, something nitelda?? but again will send of suckers everywhere after a few years , just got to keep on top of it
 
Another thing u can try this year is heaps of brash/branches, if u want to do it over bigger open areas than just wigwams round tree butts knock some stabs or tree stakes in and pull a wire or a rail to act as a ridge beam and lay the brash on forming a brash tent or corridor.
Good early roosting/perching too

I'd also think about scattering some Reed Canary grass about, plenty of bare ground just give a wee rake up althou it takes 2 years to grow, if planted it now might be not bad for next rearing season.

The other thing which is probably against best practice now rhodises or laurel, u can often see clumps growing in random woods but if u look closely quite often either been a pen or flushing point for some old drives.
U just have to keep on top of it.

There is another shrub i forget its name now looks a bit like box, something nitelda?? but again will send of suckers everywhere after a few years , just got to keep on top of it

Yes you mean Lonicera

Better really if yo8u can sticking with natives like holly / hazel coppices and as you say straw them up a bit till you can get some bramble/ bracken cover
 
Yes you mean Lonicera

Better really if yo8u can sticking with natives like holly / hazel coppices and as you say straw them up a bit till you can get some bramble/ bracken cover

Aye it just came to me there too.

I dare say ur right if u can stick to natives but sometimes u have to try other things esp if ur desperate.

Wot type of trees have u got in ur pen wytonpys?
Esp with ur coppice type trees really easy to lay/bend over a limb or 2 so u end up with an almost instant hedge and all the branchs will shoot upwards after 1st year.
I have layed a few willows and birches that were pretty decent sized1ft+ at butt and they carried on living, but it all depends on the type of cut u do to keep hinge attached
 
Aye it just came to me there too.

I dare say ur right if u can stick to natives but sometimes u have to try other things esp if ur desperate.

Wot type of trees have u got in ur pen wytonpys?
Esp with ur coppice type trees really easy to lay/bend over a limb or 2 so u end up with an almost instant hedge and all the branchs will shoot upwards after 1st year.
I have layed a few willows and birches that were pretty decent sized1ft+ at butt and they carried on living, but it all depends on the type of cut u do to keep hinge attached
Also the angle that you lay it comes into play....

WB
 
Another thing u can try this year is heaps of brash/branches, if u want to do it over bigger open areas than just wigwams round tree butts knock some stabs or tree stakes in and pull a wire or a rail to act as a ridge beam and lay the brash on forming a brash tent or corridor.
Good early roosting/perching too

I'd also think about scattering some Reed Canary grass about, plenty of bare ground just give a wee rake up althou it takes 2 years to grow, if planted it now might be not bad for next rearing season.

The other thing which is probably against best practice now rhodises or laurel, u can often see clumps growing in random woods but if u look closely quite often either been a pen or flushing point for some old drives.
U just have to keep on top of it.

There is another shrub i forget its name now looks a bit like box, something nitelda?? but again will send of suckers everywhere after a few years , just got to keep on top of it
Lonicera nitida is what you are thinking of. We still sell it and laurel for game cover in reasonable amounts. In terms of getting rid of balsam, spraying it early when it's short with glyphosate works really well. Kills the whole plant off, but need to do it before the seeds set.
 
Wot type of trees have u got in ur pen wytonpys?
Esp with ur coppice type trees really easy to lay/bend over a limb or 2 so u end up with an almost instant hedge and all the branchs will shoot upwards after 1st year.
I have layed a few willows and birches that were pretty decent sized1ft+ at butt and they carried on living, but it all depends on the type of cut u do to keep hinge attached
A real mix of trees and we do have a lot that are horizontal but not alive - some of the shoot members are a bit all or nothing with the chainsaws :rolleyes: There is quite a bit of cover ranging from our tarpaulin “Hilton’s”, bent and straight corrugated iron shelters, horizontal trees, brambles and nets. It’s a large pen though and the birds do move around it a lot sunbathing and scratching a lot hence our strings of CDs, strung wires and even plastic owls.

I will add layering to the do list - thanks :thumb:
 
we don't have problems with buzzards as the pens are netted.
I was in the pen on Friday cleaning the drinkers and a fox walked by and stuck two finger's up at me,I said to it see you later! and I did about 11pm😉.
god I can't wait for this fox haven maize to be cut its all around my pens😭
 
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