Hand mowing at the Belgenbach

September 23, 2024

teaser-bildUsing brush cutters and rakes to tackle the weeds

At Belgenbach, there was a lot of activity on grassland, that had been left to itself for decades. Formerly used meadows and pastures that have now fallen into disuse cannot always be reached by agricultural machinery. The access roads are too narrow or overgrown for modern tractors. Even...

...special vehicles that can drive over steep and rough terrain reach their limits here. In these cases, only scythes or brush cutters can help to keep the grassland open and species-rich. Last Thursday, the Biological Station's "Bufdies" (public volunteer initiative) mowed and cleared around 1,200 m² of fallow grassland in the Belgenbachtal valley using brush cutters, rakes and forks. This has given light-loving plants another chance to spread and establish themselves here. This is accompanied, among other things, by an increase in pollinator insects, which benefit from an increased diversity of flower species. Butterflies such as the Violet Copper can also be expected to feed here.

This area can be visitied on the Belgenbach 3 hiking trail at the point where a small bridge made of large slate rocks crosses the Belgenbach. The route is available as a pdf under Downloads (yet in German language only).

Butterbur and stinging nettle have spread from the Belgenbach towards the hillside meadow
Steady progress with the brush cutter

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