Thursday 6th July 2023

 
Earlier Works
 
More Recent Works

Willow Structures

A dead upright in the top tunnel.

As recorded in a previous blog we planted out two living willow structures, both being tunnels.

The top tunnel was planted out first and the second lower tunnel about a week later. The difference between the structures is remarkable.

The top structure has taken well with only a few uprights failing to root. The bottom structure is only a 50 percent success rate. The delay in planting out the second has had a detrimental effect.

Two weeks ago we attempted to replace some dead whips in the first tunnel with some healthy whips from our second tunnel. This failed.

Our test planting of a donor whip from the second tunnel.
 
Dead whips taken out from second tunnel.

Today we did a test transplant of one whip. This time we made sure that the donor whip was not bare rooted as before, but had a ball of soil attached. We shall observe and see whether this works or not.

If so we shall replace the remaining dead whips in the top tunnel in like manner.

At the same time all dead whips in the second tunnel where removed. The remaining living whips in this tunnel will be allowed to continue growing.

At some point later in the year, when the weather is cooler with more rain, the plan is to plant some new whips at the second and hopefully bring this tunnel up to the same standard as the top.

All dead removed from the second tunnel. We have lost a few sunflowers but the remaining are doing well.
 

The Local Residents

The beautiful colours of the Comma butterfly.

Once again having a keen-eyed botanist, Dr John Bailey, present on the team is a great boon.

Whilst digging out brambles underneath one of our European Hornbeams, Dr J spotted this beautiful example of a native butterfly. The cameras came straight out !

We had two schools present today on site and part of their activity range was pond dipping. It was wonderful to see that our ponds, although to the eye appearing rather stagnant at times, are actually full of life. Newts and water boatmen were amongst their catch.

Emperor dragonflies were also flitting around, taking advantage of the warming temperatures.

The name comma is derived from the distinctive shape of the wings.
 

Housekeeping Duties

The tidy up.

The great weather means that everything is growing at a fantastic pace.

Even though we have been round once a few weeks ago, we were obliged again today to spend some hours at the bottom of the arboretum cutting back from paths and lawn areas.

The brambles are the main problem. They push out long thorny growth that catches both passers-by and the poor old groundsman when cutting grass. About three trailer fulls were cut in total.

In the back of the trailer for disposal in the back borders.
 
Nice and clean.

The way things are going we shall have a good crop of blackberries this year.

Work also continued clearing out underneath the Hornbeam near our top willow structure. It is hoped to partially clear this area and put in some additional seating and a domed willow structure later in the year.

Overall, another excellent day, and to cap it all Katie's birthday also. Happy Birthday. There was the usual rendition at break time and even a delicious slice of cake to eat with our tea.

It doesn't get better than that!

Clearing brambles under the Hornbeam.