permaculture

[Ute Bohnsack <sustag@eircom.net>]

You are right, Scott, the birch trees are but a symptom, but restoration
proved much more effective if the birch trees were removed as well as
they 'suck' hundreds of litres of water on hot days. They are quite good
at surviving. With the few remnants of peat bogs left speed is of the
essence. Once the watertable is up again they can no longer gain a
foothold (or should that be 'roothold'?).
There are impressive stumps of pine and oak hidden under Irish blanket
bogs. Following bog exploitation they have been used as roofing material
in the past, and now a good few people use them for craftwork
(clockstands, mirror frames, sculptures etc.). 

Slán,
Ute

Scott Hitchins wrote:
> 
> Perhaps the birch trees are not a problem, but a symptom of human 
> interference by digging drains: block the drains and the birch trees would 
> not be able to establish themselves and the present ones would rot away.  
> Peat bogs were often treed areas in the past until watertables rose.
> Regards,
> Scott Hitchins
> 
>