Friend or Foe

I photographed the gorse (Ulex Europaeus)(also known as "whin"  in Scotland) today on our walk with the dog. The colour is stunning A hillside covered in yellow gorse is  a beautiful sight.

Gorse likes free draining soil. I was surprised to find that gorse is a legume and therefore is known as a nitrogen fixer in the soil. Big bushes of gorse tend to be self mulching as they drop of lot of their spikes. But nothing will grow under them .They can look untidy and brown especially if they are cut back. But they also make a good fence or barrier.

It was originally introduced here as an animal fodder. It was ground down to feed to cows and horses. When it has been snowing heavily sheep have been known to eat the gorse as there is nothing else.

This got me to thinking about how plants are perceived by people. Are they friend or foe? One person's weed is another person's prize specimen.

Gorse has it's good points and bad and in the main is tolerated here.

But go to New Zealand's South Island and there is a zero tolerance to gorse. When we were there we became aware of what an invasive plant species it can be given the right conditions.. The climate is probably ideal for it and it flowers (and sets seed)at least twice a year. It covers more than a million acres and over a million dollars is spent trying to eradicate it every year.

 It was introduced by early settlers. It must have seemed a good idea at the time. Given how much gorse there is in Scotland I wonder if it was down to a settler from these parts?

Most plants that cause problems here (and anywhere else) have been introduced from another clime often by Victorian plant hunters.and settlers. And they did introduce a few thugs unwittingly that now cost huge amounts of money and effort to remove.

I think I may be starting a theme here.....