Misrepresenting sites online

Just in case the wrong idea is taken about what club sites really looked liked, well this one anyway, here is the reality taken in very early June, and notice it is only done of the larger grass strips, sometimes with a border and so not quite as bad or mad as people are making out? By the time we left it had all been mowed

I quite liked the flowers.

The problem is that some don’t understand the concept of No May May or how to manage the grassland and meadows to maximise nature’s opportunities. The last thing it should be is an excuse to be lazy and do nothing for months on end, these areas do need tending.
As for those areas on sites I have seen these have been away from where dogs and children should be straying. The alternative is sterile, tracks of turf. Also. our local No May May areas have been teeming with finches, buntings and the like something we rarely saw during mow to an inch of life times of old. 

I’d also say that my wondering across wilder habitats of Britain as a child, youth and adult has done me and many no lasting damage. Yes ticks are out there but it’s not the long grass they are attracted to, it’s mammalian hosts.  We need to educate ourselves and children about protection, not eradication they need to understand the dynamics of ecosystems. We need to live along side nature more, after all, that’s why many of us immerse ourselves in our shared pastime of caravanning. Such environments are under threat, we need to be more pro-nature active wherever we can! The alternative is concerning for future generations.

You can’t expect results from one year. And it has to be managed. The grass under our fruit trees is left to grow. We have oxeye daises, ragwort (and the associated cinnabar moth caterpillars) knapweed (lots this year for the first time in 5 years)  We did sow an appropriate wildflower mix in the September before we started, on very short grass, with additional yellow rattle which reduces the strength of the grass, and is doing well. Lots of different grasses and lots of insects, including grasshoppers or crickets. It will be cut down in September and the cut grass REMOVED. That is crucial to avoid enriching the soil. It will then be mown a couple of times before winter. Many schemes fail because grass is not removed. It is not a no management scheme. We also have a lawn, which is not cut TOO short, surrounded by borders.

Ticks are on the increase because of the warmer weather (climate change) Long grass might encourange them but is not the cause.

peedee

Also, the increased numbers of deer across the UK also adds to the issue. There is some research taking place about the spread of ticks via the huge numbers of game birds released into the wild each year. The significance of this vector and connection to Lyme disease is not yet fully understood but when we upset the natural balance of things so drastically things go sadly awry!

Ragwort is highly poisonous to a great deal of animals, especially horses, and back when the UK cared and had enough money to tackle problem plants, it wasn’t uncommon to see teams of workers removing ragwort from roadside areas. I drove up the A1 between Grantham and Blyth a couple of times last week, and was appalled at the amount of ragwort growing in the central reservations and roadsides. Every equine owner knows to clear any signs of ragwort from grazing fields, not doing so risks a horrible death for horses. It spreads hugely. It’s a notifiable plant…….

https://www.rhs.org.uk/weeds/ragwort

My garden is as carefully managed as I can for wildlife, including insects, but someone else’s misguided policy on plant management is strangling all my nectar rich plants and I have been forced into using stuff I don’t really want to. I’d rather have Budhlia  and Lavender for my Butterflies and bees, than a tangle of bindweed that doesn’t seem to attract anything.☹️

 Convolvulus (Bindweed) is a very rich insect attracting plant. Hoverflies, bees and butterflies love it. Even the RHS recognise this. Also seen horses, cattle and pigs living in areas like the New Forest alongside ragwort. They seem to understand it’s best left uneaten. Maybe learnt!

I think “moderation” and control might be the issue here micky🤔 Photo of next doors garden, the whole large plot looks like this, it’s strangling all the other plants, crawling over walls, coming through fencing, etc…. Totally out of control.

There is a reason it’s called-‘in the rough’ golfing in those conditions isn’t impossible it’s part of becoming a good Golfer. No Golfer ever got to the top by only ever playing in perfect conditions. The conditions & the mastering thereof are what turns a Tyro into a good/great Golfer👍🏻

Hey Tinny, I donated to the fighting fund to stop it👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻