Rolling and Cutting- If your area of bracken is reachable by tractor or quad bike, bruising and cutting, if done regularly, are an effective way of controlling bracken. Ideally, bracken will need to be cut or rolled 3 times at year in spring and summer, this will stunt its growth and give other vegetation a chance to compete. simply rolling bracken is believed to be most effective as this will bend the stem but not break it. The bracken will continue to try and grow, and continue to use energy from it ryzomes which will have a larger long term effect on the plant..

Spraying- The most effective short term way of killing areas of bracken is to spray using Asulox. Aerial spraying is an especially useful method of management on steep slopes where access is impossible by machine. Whilst spraying will result in 95% + success, follow up work is essential to avoid bracken returning to managed areas.

Management can take a number of forms. Grazing areas will help break up the mat of dead bracken, exposing soil and encouraging other species to grow. On flatter ground rolling will help knock back any bracken which tries to return, and spraying any returning bracken can often be undertaken on a much smaller scale using a tractor and boom sprayer or a simple knapsack, attacking individual plants.

The Environment Agency are responsible giving consent for the use of Asulox. Asulox has been approved for use in water catchment areas, and the Environment Agency will stipulate a 50 meter buffer zone is left around watercourses and water extraction points (100m in some cases).

Click here to go back to Land Managers homepage