Manage a peat bank by working from one direction so no isolated pillars of peat are left standing, replacing the turf cap after cutting so the surface can regrow, and rotating to a new face each year rather than exhausting one. Keep drainage from the cut under control, because water draining out of a bank also drains the bog behind it.
Part of Peat Harvesting
Planning and tidying a peat cutting: direction of work, turf replacement, rotation of faces and water control.
A Bank Is A Cut Face You Will Return To
The parent article gives four rules: work from one direction and do not create isolated pillars because they collapse; replace the turf cap after harvesting to promote sphagnum regrowth; rotate cutting areas and never exhaust a single bank, moving to a new face each year; and a single person can cut 1,000-2,000 blocks in a full day. The last figure is higher than the parent’s labour table gives (1,000-1,500 for an experienced cutter), so plan with the lower numbers.
Method
Step 1: Mark the cutting plan. Peg out strips across the bog so that each year’s face is next to the last year’s. Cutting in strips avoids leaving isolated pillars.
Step 2: Start at the drained edge. The bank on the downhill or drained side gives the water somewhere to go.
Step 3: Work along the bank in one direction. Finish each strip fully before starting another.
Step 4: Replace the turf. Lay the stripped turf back over the cut surface, the right way up, as soon as a section is finished.
Step 5: Keep the drain short. The cut will fill with water. Provide a shallow outlet, and do not dig a long ditch that drains the rest of the bog. A drained bog dries out and decomposes (Environmental Considerations).
Step 6: Record each season’s cut, including area, depth and number of blocks, so that the next year’s face and the long-term total are known (Record Keeping).
Common Mistakes
- Leaving islands of uncut peat. They collapse into the cut.
- Cutting a second bank before the first is finished.
- Digging a deep drain to dry the cutting. It drains the whole bog.
Safety
Banks collapse and cuts fill with water
A bank face is a vertical wall of waterlogged peat. Do not undercut it, do not stand in front of an overhang, keep spoil and blocks at least 0.6 m back from the edge, and keep faces below 1.2 m or slope them (Excavation). A flooded cut is a drowning hazard.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Drying & Curing — the blocks you have cut
- Combine with: Sustainable Harvesting Limits — how much to take overall