6 adults and 2 youngsters enjoyed this mild sunny morning and made a start on planting whips inside the fence along the western boundary, beginning at the north entrance. The gap between the fence and the woodland edge contained mainly grass, nettle and bramble, and with a little clearing it was possible to plant a line of whips (mainly Blackthorn and Hawthorn with some Dogrose and Hazel) from the gate along most of zone 1, with some extra whips at the point where there was a big gap in the understory. We experimented with some new (but rather expensive) biodegradable guards, and when these ran out we started a trial with no guards at all, in the hope that rabbits aren’t going to be a problem! Altogether we planted about 220 whips, so with the 60 or so planted on the eastern boundary at the November work party, this accounts for about half of what was purchased with the generous grant from the Rushcliffe Nature Conservation Special Interest Group. We hope to finish the remainder at the next work party on 9th January. In addition, David (with a helper) shifted some stones onto a muddy section of path.
John
