Tree thinning Today we carried out tree thinning on an area of woodland along the path at this site. The aim is to increase biodiversity by letting more light through the canopy. Hopefully this will encourage more low level plants. Litter picking was also carried out and it was satisfying to see a completely litter free strip of thinned woodland at the end! We also pruned the Buddleia area near the picnic meadow to open up the pathways and create some low level flowering of the shrub in the summer. Then there was enough time to weed the central steps and assess their state of repair. There were a good number of our regular volunteers. We saw a few wonderful, bright red bullfinches which was a bonus.
A problem on the site is the excessive amount of dog fouling. The cause became clear as two men with 7 huge dogs rumbled through. It seems the site is ideal for a dog walking business as they can easily get away with not clearing up the mess. Today we were watching our every step on what is a very large site! The dog walkers didn't think much of our polite suggestions to scoop the poop. In fact we were told where to go and in no uncertain terms that removing the deposits wasn't going to happen!