Rhododendron

The common purple rhododendron, Rhododendron ponticum (L.) is a roaring success in its own terms. First introduced in 1763 as a decorative plant for estates and gardens, in the following 250 years it has rampaged through the UK's lowland woods, covering large parts of Snowdonia, western Scotland, Devon and Cornwall. It is a vigorous competitor - nothing eats the shiny evergreen leaves, the dense shade prevents anything growing underneath and the big purple flowers throw out millions of seeds every summer. Eventually dense thickets form. DNA analysis has shown that R. ponticum is a native of Portugal and Southern Spain, which makes sense as Conrad Loddiges, the original importer, had the seed sent from Gibraltar. Presumably its growth in hotter countries is checked by lack of rain - which might explain why it does so well here.

In Old Copse there are fewer than a dozen small patches of rhododendron, some small clumps in the birch on the east side of the ride, and two bigger ones in the SSSI down by the water. On the last weekend on September we had a go at rhododendron bashing. The Forestry Commission website is full of suggestions on how to tackle it, and we decided on the low tech method of hacking it down, applying herbicide to the stumps and piling up the old leaves and branches for burning later. We destroyed four of the biggest clumps in the birch wood, and at the same time chopped away at the thinner scrubby birch to widen the resulting cleared patches. The rhododendron has  colonised any sunny patch, so possibly the current dense birch growth has inhibited it from spreading further. As we thin out the woods, we will have to be vigilant to make sure we haul out any upstart seedlings which will otherwise flourish in the newly cleared areas.