Autumn Workday

The first Autumn workday is on Sunday 6th October starting at 09:00 at the Waterloo Road car park.  We hope to be planting a tree inside a new tree guard at Hall o'the Heath Farm.

July workday

A message from project leader Ron

"Hi everyone,


Hoping to see you all this Sunday for our workday. We will meet up as last time at Waterloo Road car park and walk up to Robert's field where we'll planting an oak tree and providing barrier protection. There will be a dead elder to remove to make a gap for the tree barrier.

Regards,

Ron. "
 
So see you at 09:00 on the car park.

November Tree Planting and Bird Box Survey

On a beautifully bright November Sunday the work day for the Haslington Conservation Volunteers involved two tasks.  Firstly replacing a dead tree on Park Road and secondly inspecting various bird boxes in an end of season survey.

A pair of Whitebeam's had been planted about 5 years ago either side of the private road from Park Road to Haslington Hall.  Unfortunately flooding caused by a blocked field drain resulted in the Southerly tree drowning.  The drains have now been cleared and the tree was given a last chance to regrow this past year but unfortunately a replacement was required.



Dead Whitebeam to the South of the road

 



The northerly tree had survived the flooding to produce an excellent crop of berries for the winter.

The dead tree is cut down and the roots removed before the fresh tree from Siddington is replanted.

Colin is normally to be seen leaning on a spade but on this occasion its our colleague Sarah.

The new tree is safely enclosed in its animal proof enclosure.

Another section of the Haslington Conservation Volunteers set off with extending ladders to check what use had been made in the past year of some of the many bird boxes installed by the group.

Sarah is cleaning out box 34 in an oak tree near to Haslington Hall.  As can be seen below the box was stuffed full of grass and root material together with a large quantity of dry dusty soil.

Colin shows the contents of a second box which appears to include chicken feathers in the matrix.  The actual egg laying area was tunneled into the nesting material, complete with maggots.

The morning sunshine brought out many walkers including the webmaster of the Haslington Parish website who reports on our activities here.  http://www.haslington.org/news/local-news/new-tree-planting.html





 





Crocus Planting in Haslington

Haslington Conservation Volunteers helped the Rotary Club of Haslington to plant 400 crocus bulbs on a sunny Sunday morning.  The bulb planting is part of the Rotary Polio Eradication project, the purple crocus flowers in the Spring symbolise the little fingers of children who have just received the polio vaccination [a little finger is dipped in purple dye to prove they have been vaccinated]. The picture shows Jan Lewis from the Rotary Club of Haslington along with Haslington Conservation Volunteers Dave Griffen.
The bulbs were planted next to the trees provided by the Haslington Guides last Autumn behind Shelburne Drive.  All but two of the trees appear to have had a good year.

Tree Planting with Haslington Guides

On Sunday 22 November the Haslington Conservation Volunteers were joined by the 1st Haslington Guides and their Senior Section to plant a variety of trees.
During a break in the rain we managed to plant three locally grown oak trees together with a pack of 30 smaller specimens to develop a small copse close to Fowle Brook.
The trees included Hazel, Holly, Dogwood, Hawthorne and Dog rose.
Tree warden Colin Lythgoe identifies the small oak, surrounded by the tree planters. If we come back in a few dozen years it might look like the slightly larger specimen growing on Shukers farm behind the group.
The instructions from Ron required us to remove a small area of grass, two spades by two spades, dig over the ground that was uncovered. Then the tree "plug" was popped into a hole in the loosened soil, firmed in and a stake knocked in alongside - missing the roots. Apparently many bare rooted saplings are killed off by exposing the roots to icy or drying winds, so they need to be kept in the plastic bag until the moment of planting. A tree shelter made from corrugated plastic was then placed over the small tree and tied to the stake. The tree shelter stops attacks by rabbits or other small creatures, but also provides an excellent miniature greenhouse environment to encourage growth. Finally the grass that was dug out is placed face down around the tree - this provides some nutrient but also reduces competition with the tree until its roots are re-established.


Guide Leader Joy Hitchen had obtained the 30 small specimens. The tree shelters were sponsored by the Rotary Club of Haslington. Thanks also to Brian from the Cheshire East Rangers and the parents of the Guides.