Clearing around the trees planted in Bathing House Wood in 2015

Sunday gave Blair & I, plus Bracken, a good opportunity to clear nettles, brambles and thistles growing close to the trees planted by Donibristle P7 pupils in March 2015. As the undergrowth had died back quite a bit, it also allowed us to find the remaining un-flagged trees and complete that task. This will make it much easier to find them next year if drought conditions once again mean they need watering. Something that has been essential in all three summers so far.

It was also a good opportunity to appreciate just how much some of the trees had grown, considering how small they were when planted. Not all had grown well, but the photos show some of the best examples of the different trees with Blair as a height guide. The photos from 2015 shows the size when planted.

Then Bracken found a juvenile hedgehog, well camouflaged among the fallen leaves. Hopefully it will make use of one of the hedgehog wintering quarters placed in Bathing House Wood, or seek sanctuary under one of the fallen tree trunks.

It was also encouraging to see, on occasional young trees, that caterpillars had been busy on some leaves, food for some of our woodland birds. Fat buds can also be seen to be developing, ready for next year’s growth.