Many and varied lifeforms came to say hello this week. Tuesday we were out with the Edinburgh Natural History Society doing some maintenance on some neglected Millennium Woodland out at Davidson’s Mains. The recce earlier in the week had revealed a rare form of fungi in the nearby woods.
There followed a serious day of crown lifting and tree guard removal. Today’s challenge – how many guards can you fit inside one another, Russian Doll style. Space saving and transport facilitating. But not the most exciting job. But then somebody found a toad! Or slid on it might be more accurate. Our first of the year. Knobbly, yellow and frisky he was too. We moved him out of the path of the work so nobody else stood on him.
Later, the ENHS had organised a chipper to reduce all our cuttings to mulch, which proved mesmerising to watch. Maybe a bit too mesmerising for this photographer. And unfortunately the chipper turned out to weigh a ton and a half and couldn’t make it up the hill to where we were working, so we had to drag everything to it. The wonders of modern technology. Do these Green Gym-ers work up any more of a sweat than we do? An hour later a good ton bag full of Homebase quality mulch was waiting to disappear onto some locals well tended garden. Or onto a stretch of woodland path hopefully.
Wednesday was time to get the waders out down at Inverleith Park with Jenny from North Edinburgh Rangers. And didn’t David and Neil look like the cats that got the cream. Or Tweedledee and Dum. The water was, as Neil said, ‘in no way warm.’ Without our submerged stone locator chap from the model boat club, their day of larking about moving rocks became less exciting vegetation cutback. But they had the greedy swan’s for company. The rest of us worked to strip away the encroaching grass and soil from the path around the water garden. Satisfying, and amazing how many ton bags you can fill in a short space of time. The council chaps were remarkably chipper about shifting full bags – ‘four of us, no problem’. I hope so guys. Or it’s a good few hours of shovelling.
And Thursday was back to Polkemmet Country Park. What happened out there chaps? I’ve no idea. I’m betting the war against the Rhododendron hasn’t been won and won’t be anytime soon.
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