Spring to Autumn 2020

Well, it has been a strange year so far with a worldwide virus pandemic going on.  The grounds of the Sports Centre were closed to the public, so Nature was left more or less to itself for a few months. The school children could not come to plant trees in late March, so older members of the community met up in pairs or threes, while sticking to the government guidelines and all the trees were put into the ground during April and May.  These were from a pack of 105 Trees from the Woodland Trust which arrived on March 11th.  Unfortunately, the Holly did not survive the hot weather, and we have one pack of Hawthorn still to plant.  So in total we planted approximately 75 trees this Spring (Field Maple, Downy Birch, Hazel). We were able to plant a further 25 Alder Buckthorn, making around 60 in total.  These were not very healthy plants, so we obtained a refund from the nursery which supplied them.  We will see in 2021 how many have survived.  

Thanks to those who turned out in cold and windy conditions and got these plants into the ground either here or in the allotments (including David, Penny, Philip, Kim and Catherine).

 Our rough grass with holes is ideal habitat for ground-nesting bumblebees which nest in disused mouse nest.  Here is a Buff-tailed Bumblebee Queen looking for a nest on 9th April.

Maggie and Ian from Wheatland Farm Eco lodges volunteered to support us by cutting the grass paths with their super new mower this year. It was initially a bit tricky getting it through the small gate...

Maggie has cut the paths several times this season, even in the really hot weather in June and the paths have responded well - it is more accessible now on foot.  Maggie avoided cutting down the best of the Knapweed, Yarrow and other flowers, so the bees had plenty to feed on.

Trees planted from the Fruit, Seed and Nut collection are now producing food for the birds and mammals.

Flowers feeding the insects, too.  Here is a Small Copper whose caterpillars feed on Sorrel. 

Total trees planted (planting season 2019-20: December-May = 250 approximately)

Woodland Trust Trees - we make a start on planting them

This week we had been hoping that the older children from Winkleigh Primary School would come to plant some trees donated by the Woodland Trust with funding from Sainsburys.  Unfortunately, this was cancelled at the last minute, due to the need for minimising social contact with others.  So a few adults gathered on Tuesday and again today (Saturday), despite a very cold wind.  We were careful to space ourselves apart to minimise the risk of spreading Covid-19.

The first tree to be planted was a Common Beech (Fagus sylvatica), which needed a larger hole.  Philip got to work with the mattock to clear the ground. This Beech tree was donated by a Winkleigh resident, for which we are grateful.

Using  mattock to clear the grass

The soil is wet from heavy rain, but the other small trees were easy enough to pop into a slot made with a spade.

We have now planted approximately 35 Alder Buckthorn (Frangula alnus), a shrub which provides food for the caterpillars of the Brimstone butterfly.  Let's hope we can start of colony of these beautiful yellow creatures, which are usually on the wing from March until August.  The females are a pale green, and are sometimes mistaken for Large White.  They lay single eggs on the tips of the twigs, sometimes even before the leaves open in April.  The caterpillar chews tiny holes in the leaf, so it is quite easy to spot them, even though they are exactly the same green as the leaf.  These shrubs were funded by the newly-formed Winkleigh Environment Group.

In addition we planted 15 Hazel and 10 Field Maple.  We are now reaching a situation where most of the spiral hedgerow has plants spaced approximately 1-2 metres apart.  The next phase will be to maintain the area and keep the grass from choking the smaller trees.

Volunteers braving the chill Easterly wind

The leaves are appearing on Hawthorn and Wild Cherry, and some on the Willow.  The first blossom is also just opening on the Cherry.

Wild Cherry planted in 2014

Our next planting is on Sunday 29th March, and we are hoping for warmer weather.  We still have Hawthorn, Downy Birch, Goat Willow to plant.

More trees to fill the gaps

An enthusiastic group of volunteers gathered on Sunday afternoon, 12th January.  After endless rain, at last the weather was dry and we planted approximately 100 trees in two hours.

This time we had an energetic band of 5 teenagers and 10 adults - a great turn-out at short notice.

The native trees included willow, blackthorn, hawthorn, oak, red dogwood.  We also planted some primroses and raspberry canes.

To avoid more plastic, we re-used our rabbit spirals and canes from some trees which no longer needed them.

We also took the opportunity to do some formative pruning on some of the older trees, such as the Cherry and the Oak, guided by Tom.

The trees were funded by Ovo Energy as part of #IDigTrees and distributed by The Conservation Volunteers.