Report from work morning 10 July 2016

We actually spread this work session out over a few days, because not all of us were available at the same time. There were five of us in all. On the 10th we had a group of three, clearing vegetation around signs and entrances, litter picking, cutting back of invasive blackthorn shrubs (sloe bushes) and summer fruit tree pruning.

Before...

After!

The climbing rose (Rosa Wedding Day) by the cottages has really grown well on the dead plum tree. It has put on a good flowering display this year and it is serving its conservation purpose since a number of bees were visiting the flowers (the idea is that the the summer flowering rose take over from the spring flowering fruit trees to ensure a supply of nectar and pollen for insects over a longer period).
	One of the deer-damaged young plum trees was experiencing lop sided growth and a number of dead branches. That tree had to be severely pruned back to its most promising young shoots which were then cable-tied to ensure vertical growth.
Finally, here is a picture of the healthy plum-like gage tree which had a significant standard prune back.

Two more colleagues paid a double visit on other days, gathering hay rattle seeds for transplanting (there will be more on this in a later post) and doing a litter-pick.