We stopped in at Sevenacres Weir this afternoon to install coir matting to protect the toe of a soil slope. With good light and low water levels we were able to take some photos that illustrate just how the brash bundles we installed on the left bank are working.

Low, clear water and good light reveal how these brash bundles are protecting the toe of the bank. The bundles are gathering silt and protecting the vulnerable bank from eroding in flood events. The slope is protected with a coir matt and willow poles that will root and create a dense matrix of roots that will hold the soft mud and soil together.

This warm spell has really helped the countryside along. Hawthorn and elder are already in leaf across much of Ayrshire and some of our willow that we installed just before Christmas is now in bud. This is very encouraging and a few months from now and this banking will look much more healthy. More than this the roots will be growing deep into the soil creating a very robust river bank.

The coir matt is to protect the toe of this soil slope. Secured with pegs made from potato starch this covering creates a neat protective layer.

 

Before the coir matt.

 

The coir matt has been rolled out, secured and seeded with grass as the bare soil slope has been too. With this warm weather germination should happen quickly. We’re due rain tomorrow which will help enormously, if only to stop opportunistic birds from nicking all the grass seed!