Scything at Forest Side

A fully cut and raked site

In early October we spent a few hours scything the 'wild' patch at Forest Side, as part of our long-term plans to make the area nicer to look at, while keeping it as a little biodiversity haven. In total it took only 12 scything hours (divided between 4 people) to do whole patch! We also had several people helping with raking the clippings.

Scything is an exciting new tool for us, after six of us have done a scything course (run by the wonderful Nicole Clough, of The Joy of Scything) There are several reasons why it is such a good tool:

1. It allows us to cut areas at the right time, without needing to coordinate with an external provider (which can take AGES!).

TOAD!

2. It is more wildlife friendly - leaving a diverse patch rather than a clear-cut field, and allowing wildlife to escape calmly (we saw a vole and four toads while scything!)

Three WaKers raking the site after the scything was done

3. It is actually good fun, and we do it as a group, enjoying the outdoors together. It will spark interest from passers-by, which can lead to interesting conversations. Basically, one can say that scything = community.