Spring was definitely in the air for the woodland’s 2nd volunteer day of the year. Blue skies and sunshine greeted the 9 volunteers in the morning.

Tools of the trade!

This morning work’s main aim on the Maze Hill side of the woodland was to undertake weed control. Previous volunteer days have shown that within just 4 or 5 weeks bramble and common nettle seeds are widely present in the top soil, and that digging over these areas allow fresh plants to germinate.

The start of our pile of cleared bramble

Although there are insects that appreciate these plants, their invasive nature is such that they have to be kept under control. Along with ivy, these plants are frequently found throughout the woodland, so keeping these plants under control is to the woodland’s benefit.

In addition to weeding The Glade area around the edges and around the fruit trees we have planted, we also tidied up the area around the temporary entrance on Maze Hill. This involved moving dead and fallen branches away from the entrance, more bramble and ivy control as well as litter removal.

The dead branches and other fallen wood was then put in a pile to create a wood-pile, hopefully to the benefit of insects in the woodland.

View from The Glade area looking north-east

One of the planted, bare-leaf fruit trees

Some of this morning’s volunteers