Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve, near Yate and Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire.


The Nature Reserve is run by the Wapley Bushes Conservation Group, a small group of volunteers.

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Very good Wapley work morning on 14th July

Twelve volunteers came along to our work morning, and we really got a lot done in the fine weather. The greenery has been growing at a rate of knots, so we needed to clear the brambles from round the young pear trees in the hedge at the bottom of the Lower meadow. We also trimmed back the edges of some of the main paths and did a "deep clean" litter pick in some of the less obvious places.

Our seasonal task was pruning the stoned fruit trees to ensure that they grow strong and straight. We also had to prop up an apple tree on the Common that had so much fruit on it that it was leaning over. It didn't help that the ground is cracking and so the original tree stake had become loose.

Despite all the hard work, we had time to admire the early stages of this season's apple crop.

Heritage variety apples in
the Orchard for the Future
We also paused to admire the many, many butterflies and flowers in the grasslands.

Meadow Brown butterfly
on Black Knapweed
Our next work morning will be on Sunday 8th September, meeting at 10 am at the Shire Way gate to the Nature Reserve. There will be something practical for everyone - please come along and meet our friendly group.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Paul, I think you have the wrong month in the heading for this article. Perhaps July rather than September?

Paul Hulbert said...

Oops yes, thank you for telling me - now corrected!