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Managing reedbeds -cutting
Cutting and mowing are techniques frequently employed to control common reed.
Cutting in particular is an important management tool in maintaining seral stages
in succession. It can also be used to restore degraded drying Phragmites
beds. Two regimes are usually employed which have slightly different effects:
- Winter cutting:
- Regular cutting prevents litter build up;
- Growth in the following year can be stunted;
- Summer cutting:
- Reed is killed, if cut and 'drowned';
- Keeping areas free from flooding in summer can help develop greater
plant species diversity;
- Spring mowing, immediately following the first appearance of shoots
may result in stunted growth and low density of new shoots;
- Cutting plants after flowering may produce the most stress.
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Guidance: Cutting is unlikely to eliminate Phragmites and hence
will usually be undertaken as part of a management regime. From a nature
conservation point of view cutting periods of two to seven years may be
preferred, rotated across the site. Annual or biennial cutting is generally
harmful to biological interests. This may be the preferred option when
growing reed commercially for thatch. In this context the development
of a new commercial harvesting
system which takes full account of environmental needs should
be investigated for both commercial and nature conservation management
.
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