Over the Summer of 2016 the battle was on to keep the nettles under control and to keep open the pathways that had been established. Nettles grow very quickly but do not like disturbance, and I found that where the roots had been largely removed there was little regrowth. The ivy which is everywhere will provide good ground cover as the project proceeds and will not need to be entirely removed.
 |
| Red campion,and Forget-me-not in the woods- a lovely combination. | |
The first step when one thinks about how to develop a natural looking area is to see what already lives and grows in the woods, and a survey over the Spring and Summer revealed many wild flowers, such as forget-me-not, red campion, primrose, cowslip, wild iris, rosebay willowherb, broad leaved willowherb, periwinkle, hemp agrimony, scentless mayweed and different spring bulbs: snowdrop, crocus and various daffodils. Bird life in the woods included buzzard, sparrowhawk, tawny owl, nuthatch, treecreeper, great tit, blue tit, coal tit, long tailed tit, spotted flycatcher, robin, wren, green and great spotted woodpeckers, song thrush, blackbird and several others.
 |
| Heavy and dirty work! |
Frogs, toads and grass snakes were also seen, as well as muntjack deer, stoat, grey squirrels and of course rabbits.The variety of wildlife will increase as new species are attracted by the increase of light following the woodland management.
As for the fountain, it was unclear if it would still hold water, so the work began to remove the mud and leaf litter with which it was filled to take a good look. This took some time and we were well into autumn before Dan and Nathalie removed the final section.
