2023-12-20 09:20:00
Ditches can break the monotony of the green or gray country, especially if they are blessed with a reed border. However, many locks have become redundant. Dewatering works just as well with buried drainage pipes. And a farmer who fills in his ditches gains land where he can inject liquid manure.
Ditches that are not filled in are ‘cleaned’, a euphemism for scraping away reeds and bank vegetation. Reeds would otherwise hinder the flow. Farmers in North Groningen have experimented with reeds and the obstacle turns out to be not too bad. If the process of land formation continues, this will of course be at the expense of flow. But if you scrape out a ditch every three years, you’ll be fine. It is best to do this in phases, so that there is always reeds.
You will even sit much better. It saves work, time and fuel. Reed also keeps the water and soil clean. Air penetrates into the soil through the hollow reed stems, so that aerobic bacteria can live there. And they break down manure and other pollutants. Clean water is good for fish and frogs. Birds breed in the reeds and deer can hide. In winter, birds find seeds in the reed plumes and insects in the reed stems.
Cloudy brown
In the Netherlands, the boundary between nature reserve and pasture or field is often sharp. Where a ditch crosses that border, the difference is clearly visible. On one side the water is clear, with reeds and other aquatic plants. On the other side, the bare water is murky brown. I think that’s a shame and it’s not good for anything. Leave the reeds and you will have lower costs and cleaner water.
A final advantage of reed is that it is such a beautiful golden yellow in winter, especially in the low sun. That seems like such a boost for every rural resident that I don’t understand why anyone still scrapes away their reed beds.
Three times a week, biologist Koos Dijksterhuis writes about something that grows or blooms. Read his previous Nature Diaries here.
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#Advantages #golden #yellow #reed #collar