Our January work party tackled the annual job of harvesting our Osier withies – a species of Willow which is traditionally grown in East Anglia and elsewhere for its use as a bendy material in basketry and for items such as fencing. It’s also a valuable wildlife species, hosting moth caterpillars for example. We won’t though, be emulating the supposed tradition of ‘Willow Stripping’. Apparently, Chediston in the north of Suffolk has been known for its Willow based ceremony on the occurrence of a full moon in May. It’s said that a villager dresses in Willow strippings, dances around and is then thrown into the village pond!
Willow provides us with one of the first signs of spring, in the form of Pussy Willow; the swelling buds are furry and white, resembling the paws of a cat. Before Pussy Willow appears, we can find the yellowish hanging catkins of Hazel, this male element of the plant provides pollen, bound for the much less prominent female buds which are tinged red. At Sid’s Piece, the coppicing work which started four or five years ago has enabled bushier species such as Hazel, Spindleberry and wild privet to flourish. Before too long, some of the open areas will also have some spring flowers appearing. There are now a number of different walking routes in and around Stanton’s Community Wood which make for interesting walks, in spring particularly. More coppicing has been carried out recently, as visitors will see from the piles of recently cut wood.
At our wood, the number of Ash seedlings has diminished in the past 3 years as a result of Ash dieback, but mysteriously, some individual plants have so far avoided being attacked. On our mature Ash which has been severely pruned back to remove dead wood, at this time of year, visitors are likely to see both Green Woodpeckers and the Great Spotted Woodpecker, pecking for grubs in the decaying wood, and occasionally ‘drumming’, a true sound of spring. Grey Squirrels are also appearing more frequently now that the plants are maturing, probably having emigrated from nearby established woodland. They can sometimes be heard growling at each other as they compete for partners. If you’re wandering around Sid’s Piece and see something interesting, please let us know, or leave a note on the ‘white board’ near the five-bar gate.
Plans are now advanced for the resumption of our ‘Plants & Crafts’ event which will once again take place at Wyken Hall with the kind permission of the Carlisle family. Make Sunday 24th April a date for your diary, and if you can spare a couple of hours to lend a hand volunteering, we’d be very pleased to hear from you.
Willow provides us with one of the first signs of spring, in the form of Pussy Willow; the swelling buds are furry and white, resembling the paws of a cat. Before Pussy Willow appears, we can find the yellowish hanging catkins of Hazel, this male element of the plant provides pollen, bound for the much less prominent female buds which are tinged red. At Sid’s Piece, the coppicing work which started four or five years ago has enabled bushier species such as Hazel, Spindleberry and wild privet to flourish. Before too long, some of the open areas will also have some spring flowers appearing. There are now a number of different walking routes in and around Stanton’s Community Wood which make for interesting walks, in spring particularly. More coppicing has been carried out recently, as visitors will see from the piles of recently cut wood.
At our wood, the number of Ash seedlings has diminished in the past 3 years as a result of Ash dieback, but mysteriously, some individual plants have so far avoided being attacked. On our mature Ash which has been severely pruned back to remove dead wood, at this time of year, visitors are likely to see both Green Woodpeckers and the Great Spotted Woodpecker, pecking for grubs in the decaying wood, and occasionally ‘drumming’, a true sound of spring. Grey Squirrels are also appearing more frequently now that the plants are maturing, probably having emigrated from nearby established woodland. They can sometimes be heard growling at each other as they compete for partners. If you’re wandering around Sid’s Piece and see something interesting, please let us know, or leave a note on the ‘white board’ near the five-bar gate.
Plans are now advanced for the resumption of our ‘Plants & Crafts’ event which will once again take place at Wyken Hall with the kind permission of the Carlisle family. Make Sunday 24th April a date for your diary, and if you can spare a couple of hours to lend a hand volunteering, we’d be very pleased to hear from you.