Thursday 21st September 2023

The Scarecrow - Mark 2

This week we had another go at our scarecrow. Our second attempt. For the hallowen and guy fawkes season the plan is to give the arboretum a bit of a spooky feel. We are hoping to make 4 or 5 scarecrows and dot them around the site.

Since pumpkins are not yet in season we purchased a watermelon. Hence our scarecrow has a disproportionately small head !

Katie had a go at the face on the watermelon and did an absolutely fantastic job. Our new friend has now replaced Mark 1 and is standing guard by the compost bins at the inner gates.

Bird Boxes

Last March we put up 46 new nesting boxes around the arboretum. At this time of year it is good practice to remove, inspect, clean, repair and then rehang them.

Phil Taylor, who only recently joined the volunteering group, has had a keen interest in birds for a number of years. He was more than happy to assist in this task.

In March there was some interest expressed by the birds but we are not at all sure if any of the bird boxes were actually used. This will give us a chance to find out if indeed any have been used. A short report on our findings will be published here on the website.

Finally, last week we lifted some british bluebells from the pond area. These have now been transplanted under the London Plane with a view to spreading this species. We shall see in the spring if we have been successful.