[Hubie Orff-Myland]

Hello there!
This is my first posting and I should introduce myself. I dont as yet have my rural idyll (got to get rid of the teenagers first - though a move to the sticks might sort that out...) I do however have my eye on a property, and my question is this ... is there a beast(s) that will happily eat the grass growing around newly planted (10 yr. old) woodland, without eating the bark/leaves of the trees? In an ideal world the by then plump organically fed beastie would then be ready for the pot!

Any thoughts would be most welcome.

[spandit]

Welcome! What trees are they? What about geese or ducks?

[Hubie Orff-Myland]

It is mostly deciduous native trees - just short of 10 acres. I am completely new to all this, and initially thought a couple of sheep might have been the answer, but the more I read about them the more it seems they have an inbuilt tendency to self destruct...

[HesterF]

Geese would be a good bet although they too will probably have a nibble at low lying leaves and occasionally the trunks. Do they have any tree guards on them? At ten years, I guess most the leaves are out of a goose's reach so you should be OK. Having said that, they'll keep the grass down but they won't clear it completely so if you're wanting the tree to be kept clear of grass altogether, you might need a different type of beast.

H

[Backinwellies]

would like an answer to your original question too  .... but moving does solve the teen problem.... my boys suddenly got motivated to get proper jobs/careers when faced with that or a move to rural Wales!!

[Orinoco]

Hi

How about Ouessant sheep, smaller (can't reach up far, not sure about their liking for bark as not got them yet, hopefully next week) without the inbuild self destruct urge, also very friendly, not cheap though.

K

[MAK]

Young woodland is new to me- no grass in our established woods of course. Why do you have to keep grass down around 10 year old trees - is it a problem? Won't the shade they produce do that for you once the trees come into full leaf?
Do you have a fence around the 10 acres to keep animals in?

[FiB]

Young woodland is new to me- no grass in our established woods of course. Why do you have to keep grass down around 10 year old trees - is it a problem? Won't the shade they produce do that for you once the trees come into full leaf?
Do you have a fence around the 10 acres to keep animals in?

I agree - 10 yrs is past the problems that you can have with competition - but there is also the dimension that it might seem like a waste of grass not to get something eating it!  There used to be a lot more woodland that was sparser and grazed understory -I think Id borrow some small sheep if poss and observe to see whether 10 yr old bark is appealing or not.  Geese sound promising - I have lots of very young trees planted last year and another few acres to go in next winter)so may have a go with geese this year (have I missed the slot for 'michaelmas' geese?)

[MAK]

Another suggestion -and not exactly TAS territory - Paintball!
I am thinking of setting this up in the wood across the lane - I have a spare barn for kit,changing and a cup of tea. If you could get paintballs with a weed supressant then you could earn a bit too for little work.

[Nortonhillbilly]

If you really want something to eat the grass, but not the trees and then eat the beastie subsequently, I am told Shropshire sheep are reknowned for leaving trees alone. I was told this by the lady on the Shropshire Sheep Stand at Sheep 2012 at malvern. Apparantly there are a lot of Shropshire flocks in France which are used for exactly this purpose. They are a nice breed too, from what i have seen. Might be worth googling their website

[Hubie Orff-Myland]

Hello again, and thanks for all the views/advice! My idea is similar to fib's - a two or three pronged approach to the problem - keep grass low, feed beastie, eat beastie. I like the Permaculture way of doing things if possible (though their idea's don't always work quite so well) so will make a note of miniature non self -destructive sheep. Cheers!

[Bodger]

It depends on the girth of the trees. If the geese can get their beaks around the trunks, then they'll wreck them, if they can't then you're in the clear. Ducks don't really eat grass.