Seeing The Wood For The Trees!

There was a fantastic turnout for the first Weekend Winter Worky Day of the season and as luck would have it the weather was good too.

Recently, Foxglove received a grant from Bettys and as a result there will be some new deciduous trees to plant. About three years ago an area of dense Sitka Spruce was felled and this will be one of the places that will get planted up with new trees over the next few months. Since the conifer trees were removed however, Birch saplings have taken over and in order to prepare the ground they needed to be removed. The first job was to rake up the scrub that had been brushcut earlier in the week, then the tree pulling could begin.

In some cases a special tool called a 'popper' was used to lever out the roots.

Faced with a 'wall' of Birch saplings there was no shortage of work.

The team soon found hidden Oak trees and Scots Pine which were left to grow.

A fire was lit to burn the unwanted Birch and Gorse.

In no time at all metres and metres of ground were cleared.

In some places, the recent rain meant that the ground was soft enough for the trees to be pulled out by hand. They seemed to get bigger and bigger as the day went on.

Before lunch, it was already possible to see where the group had been.

A traditional Foxglove curry lunch was served with a smile!

It was enjoyed in the warmth of the volunteer cabin.

After lunch, work continued and as progress was made, Carla discovered (and fell in) a new pond! 

Thank you to all of the people who gave up their Saturday to help manage and improve this habitat. Thanks too to Jo and Elizabeth for providing delicious cakes. If you would like to take part in the next Worky Day on Saturday 7th December then please get in touch.