Melwood

Autumn Preparations for Spring

Even as we wait for summer to properly arrive, thoughts turn to the work that will be needed to ensure the show of spring flowers that are a big feature of Melwood. The taller of the wild flowers of late spring and early summer have long since finished blooming and dry stalks now stand or lie where they once grew. These need to be cut and cleared to make room for new shoots that will bring forth next year’s show. One area that will have to wait for its cut is at the back of the wood, where, despite the smothering effect of dense stands of Hedge Parsley, Nettleleaved Bellflowers are flowering Nettle-leaved bellflower in their best numbers to date. Photograph by Jim Reid This area will wait until the Bellflowers have dropped their seed before it is cut. It has been an objective of the Conservation Group to try to increase the number of flowering species in the summer, to follow on from the spring show and it that respect, the Bellflowers seem to be a success. Cleavers is a smothering weed that has rough leaves and stalks that enable it to climb over any plants and bushes in its way. Earlier in the year a small group of workers spent a morning pulling it up from the centre of the wood where it was covering bushes and sapling trees planted in previous years. In other areas it spread over ground vegetation and still lies there, now dead but continuing to smother the vegetation beneath, e,g. over the main areas of spring snowdrops. These areas need to be cleared before December, to ensure the snowdrops have clear headroom as soon as they start to emerge. One hundred English Bluebells were planted last year but only late in the winter, when some growth had already started. This year the

process will be repeated but dormant bulbs will be planted before Christmas, when planting will be easier and bulb establishment better before spring. We will then observe their performance before any further expansion of the program. Most of our recent tree and bush plantings have gone well but an oak sapling, which put on over two feet of new growth in 2020, has suddenly and inexplicably died. It broke leaves in spring in the usual way but died very suddenly after that. A smaller, weaker sapling oak only a few feet away remains healthy, so a post-mortem will be needed to see if we can determine what happened to cut short what seemed to be a promising establishment. Other work over the winter will include some coppicing of old Hawthorns and Hazels, to try to regenerate them and to provide improved light on areas to be planted or seeded with wild flowers (of local origin). Nest boxes were not cleaned in 2020, and so will need some attention this year. It has been sad to note that in recent weeks both the bench near the river and the unofficial log seating at the back of the wood have been the sites of considerable littering. Surely if people bring boxes, bags, bottles and cans in full condition, it should be easier to take them away with them when empty. A lot of people enjoy their walk around the wood and do not want to see other folk’s rubbish as they go. The Conservation group has a maintenance rota but the volunteers cannot be expected to visit every day to collect other’s rubbish.

Jim Reid Meldreth Conservation Group

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