
With the nights drawing in, we at S.W.A.M.P. decided to move our regular, Monday bi-monthly working party forwards for an earlier start (and finish!). We were met with an almost perfect afternoon for a session of Crassula and Parrot's Feather clearing - warm enough to wade through the water yet not too hot for the hard work needed to excavate the evasive species.

The journey of transferring the plants from 'pond to Pit' start with gallant wading, with wellies, long gloves and an indefatigable spirit - often topped up with delicious home-made cakes!!

What's also needed is a degree of ingenuity, thought, try-and-try again and if all else fails think of something else spirit! Heath Robinson-esque contraptions are designed and built to help us with the soggy (and thereby naturally heavy) foliage. Old baker's crates get piled up with Crassula, which is then left to drain for bagging in the future.

A trusty, old wheelbarrow, with holes in the trough helping the water drain then transports the plants though the water to the pond's edge.

The semi-dried foliage is then bagged up in re-used, re-cycled black sacks.

The black sacks are then piled into our small trailer, and driven to our nearby 'pit' for burial.
It is a process we have developed by trial and error but one which seems to work effectively. We continue to learn, adapt, re-think our methods but one thing remains - our tireless determination to rid Morston pond of the evasive Crassula and Parrot's Feather and restore the area to its natural beauty.

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