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As the autumn & winter months are upon us, our attention turns to all of the practical habitat work we carry out across the Common to help the different habitats and the species they support.
Trees & Woodlands
We will be continuing our work following the woodland management plan agreed with LBRuT.
Over the next few months we will specifically be working on the following:
i) Reduction and removal of invasive species. Such species include Tree of Heaven, False Acacia, Holm Oak and Turkey Oak. This will increase the biodiversity of our woodland and subsequently increase its climate resilience. Temporary gaps created by the removal of invasive species will provide structural diversity and allow for natural regeneration.
ii) Halo clearance work around veteran and future veteran trees. This is a process where competing vegetation is cleared, sensitively, and in a phased programme. It is crucial to make sure we look after our older trees but also to make sure that we also have suitable veterans of the future.
iii) Continued pollard management. We will continue to manage the newly created pollards across the Common and the areas surrounding them.
iv) Selective holly thinning. Although a native species, warming winters and shade tolerance has seen holly dominate the understory of much of our oak woodland. It allows minimal light to the woodland floor, reducing structural diversity within our woodlands as the field and shrub layer cannot develop.
Lowland Acid Grassland (LAG)
We will be continuing our work to help increase the amount and quality of the nationally rare LAG that occurs across the Common.
We will be removing encroaching scrub & tree saplings, coppicing gorse and reducing the dominance of broom. This work can often look quite dramatic when first carried out but it is essential in order to stop the loss of this rare habitat and its associated species.
Beverley Brook
We will be continuing our work breaking out the concrete on the Beverley Brook, which we had to pause whilst the weather went against us. More info on the project can be found here.
As the autumn & winter months are upon us, our attention turns to all of the practical habitat work we carry out across the Common to help the different habitats and the species they support.
Trees & Woodlands
We will be continuing our work following the woodland management plan agreed with LBRuT.
Over the next few months we will specifically be working on the following:
i) Reduction and removal of invasive species. Such species include Tree of Heaven, False Acacia, Holm Oak and Turkey Oak. This will increase the biodiversity of our woodland and subsequently increase its climate resilience. Temporary gaps created by the removal of invasive species will provide structural diversity and allow for natural regeneration.
ii) Halo clearance work around veteran and future veteran trees. This is a process where competing vegetation is cleared, sensitively, and in a phased programme. It is crucial to make sure we look after our older trees but also to make sure that we also have suitable veterans of the future.
iii) Continued pollard management. We will continue to manage the newly created pollards across the Common and the areas surrounding them.
iv) Selective holly thinning. Although a native species, warming winters and shade tolerance has seen holly dominate the understory of much of our oak woodland. It allows minimal light to the woodland floor, reducing structural diversity within our woodlands as the field and shrub layer cannot develop.
Lowland Acid Grassland (LAG)
We will be continuing our work to help increase the amount and quality of the nationally rare LAG that occurs across the Common.
We will be removing encroaching scrub & tree saplings, coppicing gorse and reducing the dominance of broom. This work can often look quite dramatic when first carried out but it is essential in order to stop the loss of this rare habitat and its associated species.
Beverley Brook
We will be continuing our work breaking out the concrete on the Beverley Brook, which we had to pause whilst the weather went against us. More info on the project can be found here.
Barnes Common
Vine Road Pavilion
Vine Road
Barnes SW13 0NE