Man Orchid Management (1 Viewer)

[Ghostly Vision]

Hi all

Can anyone help with suggested management for a Man Orchid site?

The Worcestershire site is an undisturbed old quarry, but the grass there is getting very long - although there is no scrub encroachment.

Cattle cannot be used to graze the site.

Will the long grass cause a problem, or does it not affect the development of plants? Should it be mowed, if so when?

Any other hints or tips?

Thanks in advance

Sean

 

[LizandDave]

Rabbits are pretty good but they also nibble off the tops of Man Orchids (and they love eating White Helleborines). It's important though to manage the grass and scrub. Most meadows with Man Orchid have poor soil (that limits the grasses, nettles, scrub, etc) and others have grass inhibitors such as Red Bartsia, Yellow Rattle for example. These will weaken the grasses.
You will still need to clear scrub every other year and clear the findings.
You should be able to get help from your local wildlife trust, they are pretty good at managing these sites.
Dave

 

[fgrsimon]

I'd suggest speaking to the wardens at Chafford. That's also an old quarry and they definitely cut the grass in the areas the orchids grow and surrounding areas. They seem to be getting it right because the orchids are flowering in huge numbers.

01375 484016
[email protected]

 

[maslyni]

Hi all

Can anyone help with suggested management for a Man Orchid site?

The Worcestershire site is an undisturbed old quarry, but the grass there is getting very long - although there is no scrub encroachment.

Cattle cannot be used to graze the site.

Will the long grass cause a problem, or does it not affect the development of plants? Should it be mowed, if so when?

Any other hints or tips?

Thanks in advance

Sean

Seamus

Surely Mr Laney is yer man. I know he manages plants in his area

M

 

[leptochila]

Seamus

Surely Mr Laney is yer man. I know he manages plants in his area

M

I think the idea is to lure him in with an irresistible thread title...

 

[lizard orchid]

Hi all

Can anyone help with suggested management for a Man Orchid site?

The Worcestershire site is an undisturbed old quarry, but the grass there is getting very long - although there is no scrub encroachment.

Cattle cannot be used to graze the site.

Will the long grass cause a problem, or does it not affect the development of plants? Should it be mowed, if so when?

Any other hints or tips?

Thanks in advance

Sean

I know with the Warks Man orchids I do remove any long vegetation from around the plants during the flowering season as well as when the plants are producing seedheads. If there was time and someone was about that would be an option. Mowing would not be practical now as non flowering plants could be knocked back. I think hand pulling or cutting the vegetation away from the plants would be a good idea if the plants are getting swamped by the long vegetation.
Brian Laney.

 

[maslyni]

I think the idea is to lure him in with an irresistible thread title...

Well it worked

M

 

[leptochila]

I know with the Warks Man orchids I do remove any long vegetation from around the plants during the flowering season as well as when the plants are producing seedheads. If there was time and someone was about that would be an option. Mowing would not be practical now as non flowering plants could be knocked back. I think hand pulling or cutting the vegetation away from the plants would be a good idea if the plants are getting swamped by the long vegetation.
Brian Laney.

Do you think it might an idea to cut the grasses back at the end of the summer/early autumn in hay meadow fashion? Not sure would the net effect on the height and closedness of the grass would be in the longer term or whether it might even make it more vigorous.

Mike

 

[lizard orchid]

I think it would be a good idea to talk to the relevant land owner before anything is carried out. You never know he might be happy for some habitat management to be carried out.

Brian Laney.

 

[leptochila]

I think it would be a good idea to talk to the relevant land owner before anything is carried out. You never know he might be happy for some habitat management to be carried out.

Brian Laney.

I think that's the situation we're in. Sean and I visited the site and a farmer who lives locally informed us that the estate that owns the land would be very keen to hear about the colony and perhaps even manage the site to give it a boost. He said he'd pass on any ideas of what could be done to promote a healthy population but of course, speaking to the landowner directly would be preferable. At the moment the grass is quite long and rank.

Mike

 

[lizard orchid]

Do you think it might an idea to cut the grasses back at the end of the summer/early autumn in hay meadow fashion? Not sure would the net effect on the height and closedness of the grass would be in the longer term or whether it might even make it more vigorous.

Mike

It might be best to leave cutting any grassland until November as to give any late flowering wild flower species a chance to set seed.
It would be great if grazing could be introduced but by the sounds it might not happen.
Any grass that is cut must be removed to stop nutrient enrichment and will in turn benefit the flora diversity.

Brian Laney.

 

[Ghostly Vision]

Thanks Brian.

Grazing is not possible by cattle because of BSE, and as the site is a small isolated plot within a large arable area, it isn't possible to contain livestock.

The owners are keen to manage, as Mike says, so we were just looking for the best advice.

We found 20 flowering spikes this year, a similar number last year (but some were different, so there may be up to 50 plants there).

Strangely, the Man Orchids do not grow on the more bare slopes, but appear mainly in the grassier areas!!!

Sean