August 2024 Update - Bluebell Walk

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August 2024 Update - Bluebell Walk

 

 

Trees – Leaning and fallen

 

Many years ago I was given a very small but much loved oak tree, with the question could I find a suitable place to plant it, as it is outgrowing its black pot.  There was a vacant area on the right of the Gate House, where it thrives, but with the adjacent overhanging large trees, it is slowly leaning over towards the sun.  Its trunk now has a diameter close to 18 inches and with an ever expanding large crown, something had to be done before it encroached on the Gate House.

This week with the help of a strong winch, it is now upright, so with the hefty prop in place, it should keep growing upwards, to be admired by passers by and provide shade to those make use of the bench at its base.

Oak straightened with prop

 

The large birch tree that suddenly fell from the island into the Lower Pond of Beatons wood, as mentioned in this February’s Newsletter, has gone!  Again, with the help of the winch, it was first cut from its base plate, no easy task as waders should have been used, but could not be found!  Wet feet all round, but slowly it was brought ashore and cut into logs for the wood burning stoves of Steve and Jamie, the stalwarts who did this heavy work on the hottest day of the year to date.  They welcomed the shade of the wood, such a contrast after having spent two days cutting the garden hedges in full sun!

Removing the tree fallen across the pond

The Millennium Avenue

This is how the avenue looked at the beginning of the month, with docks rampantly growing everywhere.

Docks in Millennium Avenue July 2024

Urgent action was required, as just cutting them down would result that they would undoubtedly appear next year.  It meant being on hands and knees cutting each individual dock both large and small well below their growing point, not so easy as the soil became quite hard, as summer appeared.  After 12 full trailer loads, which takes on average 10 hours cutting to fill a trailer, the whole area now looks like this:

After dock removal

John McCutchan

 

This message was added on Sunday 11th August 2024


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