Brickendon Green Management for Wildlife

The Meadow

The aim is to manage as a traditional hay meadow allowing wild grasses and flora to flower and set seed. This will in turn benefit insects such as butterflies and bees.

Cut the meadow in March at start of the growing season.
Cut and collect the hay in July/August. Bale the hay if possible.
Interim cutting of large areas of dock in the growing season may be required and this should be done before the plants set seed.
Maintain a series of mown paths through the meadow grass during the growing season to allow visitors to walk through and view the pond.

The Pond

The pond is an extremely valuable wildlife habitat, important for several species of dragonfly and great-created newts. The aim should be to keep it well lit, with a thick margin of semi-aquatic plants.

Maintain an uncut edge of at least 2 metres between the water’s edge and the meadow over the whole year.
The pond should continue to be open and well lit on its east side and free from tall trees. Maintain this situation by coppicing any large trees as they develop.
At least one third of the pond should be maintained as open water which is free of plant coverage. If vegetation cover increases to make this less then some plants may need to be removed. Advice should be sought before doing this.

The Ditch

The ditch line running into the pond is important for plantlife. It also connects to the pond, which allows aquatic wildlife to travel from the pond and to it. The aim should be to maintain some open water in the ditch for much of the year, to allow sunlight to reach it, and to maintain long grasses and shrubby growth on the ditch margins.

Coppice shrubs and trees on the south side of the ditch line on a rotation of 7-10 years. Try not to cut the whole line at once, half or third at any one time would be better.
Maintain a grassy uncut buffer zone on the north side of the ditch, one to two metres in width, obviously allowing cut areas for benches on the edge of the Green.
Maintain open water in the ditch by removing vegetation by machine if it becomes choked. Advice should be sought before doing this.