On the weekend of December 12th, volunteers at Bridge Farm (in socially distanced groups of 6 or less) planted 210 trees to enhance the existing woodland along the eastern edge of the site, by the M32. The trees will help protect this important wildlife corridor, as well as reduce noise and pollution from the motorway. The whips of hazel, hawthorn, blackthorn, spindle, wild cherry, silver birch and holly were all provided by One Tree Per Child, along with biodegradable mulch mats, biodegradable tree guards, canes and woodchip. We also cleared around some trees that we had planted two years ago, which are still going strong despite having been quite swamped with bracken!
A huge thank you to John Atkinson from One Tree Per Child for his kind help, support and time.
One Tree Per Child also recently helped the children at Glenfrome primary plant 400 trees on the school grounds next to Bridge Farm. Together we’re planting the woods of the future!
We’re also looking at how we can help the woodland on this edge regenerate itself. Some of the existing trees such as willow are spreading via suckers. There is a lot of bracken growing in the area so as we go into the spring and summer we’ll be looking at how best to manage this to encourage more biodiversity in the area. There is an existing, well-used badger set in the area, and bats, as well as many kinds of birds and insects use some of the older trees. We’re arranging workshops for the spring to learn more about the flora and fauna and how we can manage it best to mutual benefit.
Thank you to volunteers: Julia, Nathalie, Ana, Damo, Jago, Curzio, Maddy, Iker, Annali, Ruth, Ian, Katherine, Antony.
