Broom Removal and Mulching

How to identify broom

Cytisus scoparius

• Upright green shrub, typically 1m to 3m, with slender ridged stems that stay green year round.
• Yellow pea-shaped flowers, similar to gorse, but no spines anywhere on the plant. If it does not prickle, it is broom.
• Small leaves in threes on young growth, dropping so the plant looks almost leafless.
• Seed pods turn black and split audibly in hot weather, firing seed several metres.

Why it is a problem on your land

Broom does to steep and stony country what gorse does to hill faces. It shades out pasture and regeneration, takes over riverbed margins and retired land, and builds a seed bank that stays viable in the soil for decades. Because it lacks the spines, people tend to leave it longer than gorse, and it is well established by the time it becomes an obvious problem.

Why spraying alone does not solve it

As with gorse, spraying leaves the structure standing. Dead broom is dry, brittle, still occupies the ground, and still has to break down. The seed bank is unaffected either way. On riverbeds and steep faces the access problem is the same one that stopped the site being managed in the first place.

GRazer do not spray. Herbicide is a legitimate tool and there are situations where it is the right call, but it is not a service we offer. What we do is remove the plant mechanically.

How we clear broom

We mulch broom to ground level and process the whole plant into a mulch layer on site. Remote-controlled machines work up to 55 degrees and get onto the faces and margins where broom concentrates. Stems are well inside our 200mm to 300mm capacity.

What the site looks like afterwards

The site is open and usable immediately. Seedlings will come from the existing seed bank, so treat broom the way you would treat gorse: expect a follow-up, and know that it is a fraction of the first job. Grazing after clearing is very effective on broom regrowth.