Hidden Heaths

It's been another busy day at Foxglove where we were joined by our friends from the Dales School, and also by Spring Hill School, Ripon.

Aside from these visits our Tuesday Reserve Volunteers have been busy looking after some of what I've started to call our Mini Heaths; areas outside of the Heathland paddocks rich in Heathland vegetation.

Many of these areas have a Heather-based understorey covered by Hawthorn, Willow and Gorse. Much of the work carried out today has involved removing Gorse, which when left unchecked soon shades out the Heather and takes over completely.

Aside from removing Gorse we have also been crown lifting the overstorey in some places to allow more light to reach the floor and give the Heather a chance of making a comeback where it has been shaded out in the past.

We also found two Juniper bushes hidden away and at risk of falling beneath Gorse, Willow and Hawthorn; one of which is a very impressive specimen, with a reach of approximately 2 meters from trunk to branch tips.