Last weekend the Bog Squad was once again at Langlands Moss on the outskirts of East Kilbride. With a small army of volunteers from the Friends of Langlands Moss turning out alongside the Bog Squad a lot was achieved on the day.
We started out in the morning by putting in some dams using the z-shaped plastic piling. This material usually goes down into the peat quite easily - assuming you avoid the old tree roots of course! So many z-shaped piling dams were completed we sort of lost count..........although around nine is a fair guesstimation I think........
We started out in the morning by putting in some dams using the z-shaped plastic piling. This material usually goes down into the peat quite easily - assuming you avoid the old tree roots of course! So many z-shaped piling dams were completed we sort of lost count..........although around nine is a fair guesstimation I think........
And it wasn't just damming that was going on with plenty of spruce and pine saplings removed the bog too. These small (and sometimes not so small!) trees suck up valuable water from the bog which threatens this special habitat so removing them is an important task. |
With the spruce bashing continuing into the afternoon, the damming team moved onto the other side of the bog to pop some hexagonal piling dams into place. This type of plastic makes for sturdier dams with the disadvantage that it's much harder to bash into the ground! We encountered few difficulties though and three dams were constructed in a fairly short time along with a wee bit of peat re-profiling where a ditch side was collapsing.
Some of the dams were built to replace old rotten plywood dam's that had been installed in the 1990's, these have been doing a great job with sphagnum mosses recolonising many ditches. Hopefully our new dams will last a fair while longer though and in time these ditches will fill up completely with peat and mosses.
The Friends of Langlands Moss also conducted a community litter pick for the area around the bog in the afternoon with several large bags of litter being taken away from the site.
All in all it was a great day, many thanks to all of those who came along and donated their time and efforts. Hope to see you all again soon............
All in all it was a great day, many thanks to all of those who came along and donated their time and efforts. Hope to see you all again soon............