Gorse
- Thread starter BenBhoy
- Start date
Good for wildlife. Formerly used as good quality fodder. Nitrogen fixing, so good for the soil. Effective ground cover and will probably to some extent keep deer off saplings it is surrounding.
I would leave it well alone and resist the urge too many people have to try and make the countryside look like a Sunningdale golf course.
I would leave it well alone and resist the urge too many people have to try and make the countryside look like a Sunningdale golf course.
deerstalker.308
Well-Known Member
As above, as long as it doesn’t swamp the trees during establishment they will out compete it in time, cutting it just coppices it and it grows more densely too.
BenBhoy
Well-Known Member
December - Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust
www.gwct.org.uk
Brilliant stuff actually Ben
Birds nests are so well protected
And its an incredible native source of nectar / pollen for insects in the winter
We have lots of broom - very similar plant
Dunwaters
Well-Known Member
Gorse is brilliant stuff alright, just as long as you can admire it on someone else’s land from a distance.
I personally can’t stand the stuff, it will eventually block foot access to the area until it gets tall enough for deer and livestock to make trails under the canopy, then you can crawl in with a visibility of maybe one meter, dogs won’t work through it willingly, it’s highly flammable and invasive, if the gorse accumulates a burden of dead foliage it makes a very efficient accelerant to set your whole plantation aflame.
I personally don’t go anywhere near the stuff anymore, I’ve lost carcasses to it and ended up with septic sores in my knees from crawling through it, it will also make absolute shite of any waterproof membrane yet invented.
Spray the lot of it while you can or say goodbye to access for a long long time.
I personally can’t stand the stuff, it will eventually block foot access to the area until it gets tall enough for deer and livestock to make trails under the canopy, then you can crawl in with a visibility of maybe one meter, dogs won’t work through it willingly, it’s highly flammable and invasive, if the gorse accumulates a burden of dead foliage it makes a very efficient accelerant to set your whole plantation aflame.
I personally don’t go anywhere near the stuff anymore, I’ve lost carcasses to it and ended up with septic sores in my knees from crawling through it, it will also make absolute shite of any waterproof membrane yet invented.
Spray the lot of it while you can or say goodbye to access for a long long time.
The gorse flower can be made into a very pleasant syrup or, better yet, makes a wonderful botanical infusion for gin.
As for the plant itself? Whilst it has many uses for wildlife as noted in previous replies I find it to be hateful stuff.
Gorse is OK provided that it's burnt on a 7 year rotation.
Up to that point it provides quite good wildlife habitat, fodder for livestock and an abundance of flowers for wine making.
Once gorse gets older it just kills off everything underneath, creating a fairly barren ecosystem.
Ideally, if you have a large area of gorse on your land, divide it into 7 blocks and burn one block each year
(Incidentally, the New Forest ponies have a special adaption that enables them to eat gorse without prickling their lips. They grow a thick bristly moustache during the winter months).
Up to that point it provides quite good wildlife habitat, fodder for livestock and an abundance of flowers for wine making.
Once gorse gets older it just kills off everything underneath, creating a fairly barren ecosystem.
Ideally, if you have a large area of gorse on your land, divide it into 7 blocks and burn one block each year
(Incidentally, the New Forest ponies have a special adaption that enables them to eat gorse without prickling their lips. They grow a thick bristly moustache during the winter months).
I was expecting some comments along those lines....
It's a beggar to burn, but once it gets going keep out of the way.
RescueMe0007
Well-Known Member
I love the sight and smell of gorse when it's in bloom, and in small and scattered clumps it's fine. Lots of it in West Cork & Kerry. Beyond that I agree with Dunwater. It's illegal to burn it here (not that that appears to restrain anyone). I lived for a number of years on Bantry Bay, it was not unusual to see gorse fires on the hills around the bay. Apparently the burn back of the gorse stimulates the growth of other plants and provides habitat and fodder for a number of species (not least sheep). 
Sol
Well-Known Member
The south west has it pretty bad a lot like the photo Foxy boy posted but x3 the amount!
Its not bad when there's rabbits about as they'll dig up under it making corridors for deer and sorts (after years and years of use dont get me wrong!) but its bloody terrible In places with no small creatures besides foxes and deer.
Most of its on agriculture land many of it being a makeshift fence between farms so Its never burnt sadly.
Its not bad when there's rabbits about as they'll dig up under it making corridors for deer and sorts (after years and years of use dont get me wrong!) but its bloody terrible In places with no small creatures besides foxes and deer.
Most of its on agriculture land many of it being a makeshift fence between farms so Its never burnt sadly.
It’s not great for biodiversity - and in the long term can be quite suppressive, especially if it establishes big thickets.
The understory becomes very barren, with an invertebrate fauna that’s more or less entirely dominated by spiders and very little leaf litter or soil fauna. Some birds do nest in it, but many do not - it essentially acts as an ecological homogeniser, and you can lose things like willow warblers, white throats, black caps and the parids if it becomes too dense and extensive.
It’s also terrible for suppressing other plants. On heathland, it’s notorious for leading to declines in many rarer, more interesting plants. I’m involved with a long term project on fragments of dry heath on SSSIs in Fife, and they’ve been very badly affected by gorse. Several have more or less completely lost all the original rich flora and are now just gorse monocultures.
Like most things, a bit is fine, too much is not.
Dunwaters
Well-Known Member
As far as I’m aware the burning of gorse or heather isn’t actually illegal, but you need a licence from NPWS and they are refusing to issue them for controlled burn’s because of smoke and carbon emissions.I love the sight and smell of gorse when it's in bloom, and in small and scattered clumps it's fine. Lots of it in West Cork & Kerry. Beyond that I agree with Dunwater. It's illegal to burn it here (not that that appears to restrain anyone). I lived for a number of years on Bantry Bay, it was not unusual to see gorse fires on the hills around the bay. Apparently the burn back of the gorse stimulates the growth of other plants and provides habitat and fodder for a number of species (not least sheep).
You can legally spray it off or dig it out, there may even be grants to encourage you.
John Gryphon
Well-Known Member
What dunwater said in his first post.
You need to see gorse in Tassy,NZ and Victoria to understand what a scourge it is in other lands. 1000`s of acres as far as the eye can see in some places.
You need to see gorse in Tassy,NZ and Victoria to understand what a scourge it is in other lands. 1000`s of acres as far as the eye can see in some places.
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