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General Chat about Gardens & Flowers
 #2924  by Alfred
 05 May 2019, 17:20
I got a bit distracted early spring and the growth within my (new apiary!) site has got a bit ahead of me.
Luckily the No Mow May initiative has provided a bit of mitigation/excuse
Now its out of control,It is amazing what plantlife existed there and I never knew about before having been so keen to keep the growth down.
The area was a scrubby mess of thistles and nettles for decades.
These were then cleared and the cooch grass took over.
The whole plot was also peppered in ancient anthills -some as big as fridges.
The density of it and the hidden bricks ,blocks and scrap iron meant it couldn't be cleared with machinery.
Over the last few years Ive levelled and cleared it and kept the grass down to almost domestic garden levels.
Since I'm now starting with the bees, I am keen to create a little oasis for them (I do suspect they'll ignore it and forage from a mile away...).
I've partitioned off the selected nicer parts to leave as wildflower as they are,with a bit of judicous strimming to cull the plain grass before it gets too coarse.
I'm also at odds with non mowing when it comes to dandelions nettles and thistles because I hate them even though they're on the good guys list.
I'm leaving a very small area with cooch and anthills too -partly as a stern reminder not to allow it to happen ever again.
I've mowed access pathways so as not to trample anything unneccesarily- I've seen a few toads and whacked a few slow worms with the strimmer(cringe)
A big percentage will have to be cut short fairly regularly to keep the ants underground.
I've watched what they do.
Two or three long seed-stems of grasses together provide scaffolding which is then filled in around with granulated soil.
This quickly builds height
They seem to add some sort of enzyme to turn it rock hard like cement.
Having dug up over 140last year I can testify they go underground as deep as above.
I'll leave un-mown runs around the periphery to provide corridors down to a stream
The worst area still has scars of barren soil where the anthills were.
The project for this bit is lightly rotovated soil then artificial wildmeadow with a wetland area at the bottom of the slope.
The hazel,hawthorn and a plethora of fruit trees that already exist should complement my efforts.
Any other ideas or caveat?
 #2926  by Chrisbarlow
 05 May 2019, 18:36
My attitude to apiaries these days is as long as I can get close to the hives with my car and then get to the hives on foot and access it at least from one side then hey presto nothing else needs doing.
 #2940  by Patrick
 06 May 2019, 10:39
Hi Alfred

It’s your site and I don’t know the scale or your other uses of it but personally I would leave be as far as possible. Neither bees or other wildlife need tidiness. An access route to the hives and back is the only requirement. Enjoy it rather than trying to tame it - bees thrived for Millennia without people. Recent research suggests untidy apiaries May help bees manage Asian Hornet predation better than manicured.
Just my five pence worth however..