What a difference a week makes at this time of year. Some warm sunshine and a break in the rain and suddenly the woodland is coming alive and shrugging off the winter hibernation.
I was surprised to see that the beech trees at the top of Pop’s Wood are further on in coming into leaf than the hornbeam. In the garden at home it is always the hornbeam that is first into leaf and first to loose its leaves in the Autumn. But for whatever reason that is reversed this year.
Great to see the beech filling out with its lime green leaves standing out against a beautiful blue spring sky.
I was also very pleased to note that a hazel pole, that I used in the autumn to make one of the log wood shelters, is sprouting. When I made the structure I must have rammed one end of the pole into the ground, but this tenuous link with the soil has sustained growth and enabled a potential new hazel plant to survive.
I intend to further explore this ability of the hazel to regrow from cuttings and carry out a more organised cutting propagation session in the autumn. I tried this earlier last year with some hornbeam cuttings but, despite early positive signs of the cuttings taking, they have all subsequently failed. The hazel appears to have a greater ability to survive and any successful cuttings will be used to increase the density of the hazel stools following this planned autumn’s coppicing.
Also enjoying its time in the sun is this member of the violet family. I think that this is either a dog violet or a sweet violet. I will have a chance to quiz the experts as the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust are visiting the wood on Thursday next week to update the flora and fauna report that they produced a few years ago. Either way its a very welcome addition to the woodland floor.
More next time……………….
Tim Burr 