Yesterday’s volunteer session had another busy day of activities. As well as the normal tidying up of The Glade area, it was also necessary to check up on our pond. It’s looking more and more as though it’s been established for quite some time. Two frogs were seen in the nearby grass, while the ponds plants look healthy.
View of the pond in The Glade
Purple Loosestrife adjacent to the pond
Meadowsweet plant growing near the pond
Today’s latest session made the most of warm sunshine, something that has definitely been in short supply recently!
Today was in The Glade area, concentrating on weeding, pond maintenance and tidying up our dead wood pile.
Our apple and pear tree trees are producing a healthy amount of fruits, although as can be seen they’re quite small. Weeds have made the most of the warm weather with Rosebay Willowherb taking over around 20 sq yards of soil just to the side of the grassed area in the glade.
Smaller both in size and numbers than pears in general.
One of the many pears now growing
More pear fruits rapidly growing.
Our second open day took place in the afternoon of Saturday 7th May 2016. Our afternoon session allowed more than 100 people to see for themselves the work that has taken place since the last open day 6 months earlier. The warmth of Spring was definitely felt in the woodland, allowing early flowering plants to take advantage of the open woodland canopy.
The photos below 2 areas of woodland plants in The Glade area; the first shows a patch of recently planted common bluebells that are already well developed and with regular maintenance will continue to spread; the 2nd shows a patch of woodland plants we planted as small plugs 2 years ago. All are growing well in the conditions offered.
Newly planted bluebells in full bloom
Woodland plants in The Glade
This morning’s volunteer session saw 2 new volunteers arrive and the return of 3 others. The main focus of the day was to take the saplings we ordered and to plant these on the footpath leading from the top of our newly installed steps, leading towards The Glade.
Two committee members infront of an overgrown fence, before work started to plant the area
Volunteers filling in the cleared trench with newly planted saplings
Committee members planting our newly created thicket
Last Saturday saw our first volunteer session of the new year. In addition to our usual plan of general weeding and making sure all is well inside the woodland, the main aim today was to plant 5 elm saplings which were supplied to us from The Conservation Foundation (www.conservationfoundation.co.uk) who have supplied us with 5 elm saplings as part of a project to see why some elms survived Dutch Elms Disease and to see if saplings which show disease resistance can be successfully grown.
The photos below show the saplings in their pots before they were planted and 2 volunteers getting ready to plant the saplings. The label shows the variety of the elm and the location from where it came from. Over the months we hope to provide updates of these saplings with their health.
