On Tuesdays we run our weekly Woodland Management Days, an essential part of our work to restore and maintain the arboretum.  Our volunteer team has been growing over the summer, and has been very busy doing the essential up-keep of the site.  It’s been a while since we updated our followers on their work, so we thought we’d do just that and take the opportunity to say a huge ‘thank you!’, as without their hard work and commitment the place would look very different!  Thanks also to the National Lottery Heritage Fund whose generous grant makes these days possible.

Scything and clearance

The team spends a lot of time scything key areas; underneath trees that are key to our management plan, around new plantings, and in areas that will be used for acrobatic theatre events later in the year (such as around the giant redwoods).

We keep pathways clear with scythes, billhooks and slashers, and create new pathways (most recently a path to access a rare white oak).

Recently we cleared around the huge fallen oak by the entrance of the site, which had been swallowed by bramble; this is soon going to be chain-sawed into a seat or other feature.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Restoration

Gary has been showing volunteers how to use his reconditioned 1949 Tirfor winch to pull up rhododendron roots, which has proved a popular task.

We regularly take care of the twenty or so new trees and shrubs that have been planted over the last two years, watering them, weeding around them, and building and maintaining fences to protect them.

Part of the restoration work is to look after the old trees too – removing dead or diseased branches to help them thrive and make the woodland safe.  We’ve been making good use of our new long handled pole saw for this purpose.

The team has been propagating seeds and cuttings, and potting up saplings to grow-on and re-plant (such as self-seeded hornbeams and cuttings of a shrub called the Bristol Ruby Weigela).

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Creative projects

We’re always thinking of ways to creatively solve problems on site, and to make use of the various natural materials we have access to.  Recently we gathered bamboo and used it to weave a hurdle gate for the new saplings enclosure. Side note: the hurdle sides on the roundhouse were a winter project, making use of wingnut saplings that needed removing from another part of the site.

The team has also been doing experiments with willow; planting willow setts as a path-edging and what we hope will grow into a living tunnel. 

• 

• 

• 

Maintenance

General maintenance of the tools, container and site is carried out on Tuesdays. We’ve just updated our tools inventory, and given the container a good sort-out and spruce.  Recently the team created a new enclosure on the side of the container, where we can keep saplings and young trees safely out of the way of nibbling deer and goats.  

We are really proud of the new welcome sign that we built and installed by the start of the public footpath, with a rustic wooden stand. We’ve also been updating the footpath signage to correspond with Jake’s new colour-coded visitor maps. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Access

Our access lane provides a seemingly never ending task of bramble/weed clearance. Volunteers clear along the kerbs and verges to maximise parking and turning space, maintain a tidy appearance for visitors, and to make it easier for people getting in and out of their vehicles.  We recently made a ramp to improve access to the site for those with buggies/mobility scooters/wheelchairs/wheelbarrows etc.

A nice project we recently completed was to repair the steps down to the arena.  For steps that couldn’t be repaired, we replaced them with logs that we had sourced and split.

• 

• 

Firewood

The Tuesday team is responsible for ensuring there is firewood for all other site users.  A big task that is regularly undertaken is to gather branches and logs from around the site, and saw and split them to restock the wood store (which was, incidentally, built by the team over the winter months and one volunteer made the lovely wooden signs for the bays).

Species recording

The summer is a vibrant time for wildlife, and our Tuesday volunteers have been getting to grips with recording species of flora and fauna using the iNaturalist app.

• 

•