Posts

Autumn Gold

Image
The bracken is down so its access all areas at Bel's Wood again.   It is a wonderful place to spend time while the rain and wind have stopped and the sun has been shining and it is glowing gold. I am clearing brambles from overgrown paths and from around the Scots Pines. I have marked the saplings that need to move. I will move them once they are dormant, December at the earliest. I have a good collection of Ash and Wild Cherry saplings for the first time this year. These Ash saplings are unlikely to thrive under the canopy so I shall move many of them to more open areas. The grant does not cover planting Ash saplings due to Ash Die Back so I am pleased to have some self seed and hope that maybe the next generations will create some with resistance to this damaging disease.    These saplings are the first Wild Cherry self seed that I have come across and they have really taken off up this year. The photograph was taken in spring when they first emerged and I gave the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Willowmena - entering a new phase

Image
 Right from when I first visited the wood I was taken by the elegant profile of this tree. I took so many photos and since it was autumn I didn't know what species it was. There were two large trees with the same lovely arching canopy side by side. There are some lovely older trees at Bel's Wood. There are 4 big oaks, 6 wild cherries and some very mature hazels. In spring I realised that these trees were Goat Willows. The pussy willow fed the queen bumblebees as they emerged from their hibernation in late February. The abundance of flowers provides pollen and nectar early in the season so that the queens can establish their nests and start the process of producing the next year's bumblebees. Once she has fed herself and collected pollen to create her nest and nectar to sustain her, she will remain under ground for the rest of the year and will die at the end of the summer leaving new queens to take her place the following year. I don't name all of the trees at Bel's...
1 comment
Read more

Aspen 3 years on

Image
I chose to plant Quaking Aspen inspired by a visit to Carrifran Wildwood  in the Scottish Borders where they have planted aspen lower down the valley and were delighted when I visited in 2019 by their growth and the experience of the quaking leaves and the sound they made. I had not realised they are a native species. I then came across  BOOM  (Back on our Map) a project run by Cumbria University seeking to restore species that have been lost or are under threat in Cumbria. Aspen were one of their chosen species. 'The BOOM project aims to increase the connectivity of aspen in South Cumbria. We will take hard-root cuttings from aspen across the project area, and work with community stakeholder organisations such as Green Heart Den and Art Gene to propagate the cuttings, with the aim to generate a clone bank of local south Cumbrian aspen clones.' I approached the University and they donated 100 saplings from Cumbria. Some were collected whips from established trees and othe...
4 comments
Read more