Friday, March 29, 2024
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Mother Nature needs a helping hand

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Bridle path

I enjoy Mary Green’s articles and appreciate the time and work she puts into her contributions to The Village

The picture (right) in your November issue of our bridle path (The Birches, running from Withybed Green to the top of Coopers Hill) is lovely – but, of course, this is after I had gone up and down it with my mower.

I delay mowing until the end of the summer for all the reasons Mary gives in her article. But sometimes, Mother Nature does need a helping hand, otherwise The Birches would very quickly become an impassable jungle. 

As it is, it is almost impassable for riders on horseback, yet it is a bridle path.

As for leaf blowers: Yes, I accept they can be noisy. But if only used occasionally, they are not the fiend Mary implies.

The leaves are blown into the surrounding environment, usually to the base of a hedge, or into the bushes, where they rot down and provide all the goodness she mentions in her article – in the right place and not on the pathway, where their rotting down will simply assist the growth of weeds (flowers in the wrong place) on the pathway.

Used in moderation a leaf blower is good for gardens like mine where I could not possibly cope without the help of modern machinery.

Keep up the good work and with kind regards . . .

John Impey
Withybed Green, Alvechurch

Mary Green responds: John is quite right that verges benefit from mowing after flowering, once a year, as I’ve described before. Sorry I didn’t make it clear in this article. The Birches is a lovely example of good countryside management.