Ashmore Cricket Club, North Dorset
ASHMORE’S claim to fame is that it is the highest village in Dorset. It is located at the southernmost end of the Wiltshire Downs in beautiful rolling countryside. Pitchcare’s Peter Britton
we were undertaking some sort of cloak and dagger operation.”
was, for many years, both a player and club chairman of the village cricket team and it was he who sought to replace the 1950’s Nissen hut, that doubled as both a village hall and pavilion, with something more respectable. “The team had known some success in the Village Knock-out tournament in the 1970’s but plummeted down the local leagues in the 1980’s, only to recover again in the early 1990’s” says Peter. It was this resurgence, and
the newly available Lottery funding, that prompted Peter to research just what was available. “I approached the Lottery
Sports Fund, the local council, the County council and various other bodies. Everything looked so promising that, with the help of a few other club members, I prepared detailed plans for a new village facility ... and that’s when the problems really started!”
The old Nissen hut was hardly ever used by the village except for a few hardy souls playing whist once a week in the winter, a few rodents and countless spiders. And, of course, the cricket team in the summer. “I was so confident that we
would get the villagers approval” said Peter, “and was delighted when many of the 150 inhabitants turned up to hear our proposal. We had Powerpoint presentations, plans, a build cost of £74,000 and promised funding totalling over £40,000 from various bodies even before we had completed our Lottery bid.” “What I had completely
overlooked was the villagers themselves! I had gone off on my mission without considering them. It must have appeared to them that
So not surprisingly, in hindsight, a few weeks later the project was taken over by the Village with one member of the cricket club sitting on the newly formed village hall committee. Over the following months, new plans were drawn up by a professional architect at a cost of £15,000 (10% of the estimated build cost) and fund raising activities were being organised by the the village. “Their hearts were certainly in the right place” says Peter “but at times it seemed more Dibley than Wembley. The drawn out negotiations between the committee and the Lottery fund, including one refused bid, meant that the Lottery Sports Fund offer had disappeared along with the £40,000 already promised to the cricket club. So other areas of Lottery.” funding were targeted. Their first criteria was that the ‘sports’ side had to be excluded from the bid if the building was to be a village hall - and I still don’t understand that. It also required ‘proof’ that we could cater for ethnic minorities (in a Dorset village), along with various other strict criteria.” The build cost rose to £220,000. Was the hall ever built? It
was completed last month - almost 11 years after the initial presentation to the village - and it looks fantastic. Lesson learned? “For a small sports club I’d say that however good your idea is, however viable and however certain that you are doing everything ‘by the book’, always make sure you enter into dialogue with as many ‘interested parties’ as possible.”
“My big mistake was in thinking that I and the cricket team were doing the villagers ‘a favour’ by knocking down the old nissen hut and building a brand new hall. I think, more than anything, I hurt their pride! ”
KNOTWEED Japanese (Fallopia japonica)
Fallopia japonica, commonly known as Japanese Knotweed, is also known as Polygonum cuspidatum and Reynoutria japonica. This rhizomatous perennial invades habitats primarily through vegetative reproduction, though the plants are known to produce abundant displays of tiny white flowers followed by seed.
Japanese Knotweed is a prolific weed that grows in dense clumps up to 3m in height, on tubular stems that ascend from the base of the plant. The plant dies back each year, leaving the stems to form a protective framework over the newly forming emerging shoots that begin to grow in the following spring.
The roots are woody and have been recorded to depths of 1-5m or more. The plant forms rhizomes 0.5-5cm in diameter that spread up to 7m laterally each year. The ability of this plant to reproduce itself by rhizomes is the reason this weed so invasive.
Knotweed forms panicles of white flowers up to 10cm long. The plant flowers from August to October before dying back to leave brittle hollow stems that stand throughout the winter.
Leaves are 6-12 cm x 5-10 cm in size, broadly ovate and truncate at the base.
Knotweed can reproduce itself by seed and by rhizomes. It’s vigorous powers of vegetative reproduction mean that it has been able to spread to all parts of the British Isles without the aid of sexual reproduction.
It can tolerate most soil conditions, including very acidic soils. It will grow in most situations.
Establishment and competition with other plant species is aided by a number of characteristics. Firstly, it’s ability to grow tall, out smothering many other plant species, it’s ability to reproduce by rhizomes and, finally, the amount of debris it leaves behind each year which eventually forms a carpet that shades out other plant flora. This plant is also shade tolerant.
Once established it is often difficult to remove or eradicate. However, there are a number of tactics now being used to eradicate or reduce the spread of this weed. In most
cases they are labour intensive:
• Digging out the plant. Often this process must be repeated a number of times to remove all signs of roots and rhizomic growth. All debris harvested must be dealt with as hazardous waste and must be taken to deep land- fill sites suitable for the disposal of live Japanese Knotweed rhizomes. It is an offence to knowingly spread this plant ‘in the wild’ (Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981).
• Cutting on a regular basis. Continue to cut down the vegetation back to ground level and keep cutting it until it exhausts itself; not being able to manufacture food from photosynthesis.
• Covering with plastic or tarpaulins to prevent light getting to the plant, resulting in the plant dying out.
A combination of cutting and herbicide is probably the most effective.
Chemical Control: Apply non- selective herbicides when plant growth is active. There are a number of products available for controlling Japanese Knotweed. These chemicals are best used when the weeds are actively growing, usually between April-October.
• Roundup pro biactive. (Contains 360g/L glyphosate. Scotts.
• Roundup Pro Green. (contains 450g/l glyphosate present as 590g/l (50.9% w/w) of the isopropylamine salt of glyphosate. Rigby Taylor.
• Timbrel (Contains
667g/L(44.3%w/w) triclopyr butoxy ethyl ester. (480 g/L triclopyr acid equivalent). Bayer Environmental Science.
Herbicides are usually applied as a foliar spray but can also be applied directly to target plants using a weed-wiper or herbicide glove. Good results have been achieved by injecting glyphosate into hollow stems immediately after cutting.
Herbicides are an effective tool where high quality turf is desired. However, they must be applied with care and accuracy and in the context of a good overall turf management programme.
21
OF THE MONTH
WEED
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