Hackfall Woods and Fir Tree Farm: 23-07-2013

This was a day where duties were split as it is the time of year when so many areas are under threat from invasive species. Because of this the entry for this week's blog is also split between Ros E and Julia.......

It was an unpromising start to our planned day at Hackfall with early morning thunderstorms and heavy rain.  However a large group of volunteers swelled by a welcome contingent from Wolseley were kitted up and ready to go at 10am sharp.  It was therefore suggested by Jan that some of the NCV’s go back to Fir Tree Farm to continue with work already started on clearing balsam and bracken.

Julia

At Hackfall Woods: 
A group consisting of a team of 10 from Wolseley, 2 NCVs and 2 Hackfall volunteers joined Paul, our leader, for a joyous day of mixed pleasures. After a morning of bracken bashing we were treated to an afternoon of Himalayan balsam pulling. Lovely. In hot and humid conditions (that were not alleviated by the intermittent showers triggered by an earlier thunderstorm) we bashed and pulled and pulled and bashed. 

The Wolseley team were all easy to spot, beating the bracken into submission in their snazzy green waterproof overalls...... 

..... by lunchtime the top halves of the outfits were seen dangling around the wearers' middles as the high temperatures led to sauna conditions.

We did manage to deal with all the bracken, which isn't too extensive at Hackfall. However, as far as the balsam is concerned, although good inroads were made, as usual, there was still plenty left standing by the end of the afternoon. We tried to prevent further invasion by clearing a swathe on the far side of the boundary wall to prevent further spreading.

Balsam jostles for position waiting to 

jump over the wall and engulf the woodland - not for long!

Volunteers worked their way steadily through the area seeking out 

and destroying the balsam plants. 

Ros E.

Meanwhile the other group of 7 NCVs fought a rearguard action .....

At Fir Tree Farm: 

As a first time balsam basher this was heady stuff for me but we were soon into the swing of it, some of us adopting the full roots and all removal technique whilst others used the more brutal slashing method.  Dean kept everyone on their toes by collecting and stacking the debris as fast, if not faster, than we could pull it.

In the afternoon Casper, Dave and Jan attempted to clear bracken which had grown around the trees we planted in the winter and later regaled us with tales of bracken stems as big as your forearm, though the writer is unable to verify this!  Their reward at the end of the day was a low fly past by a tawny owl.

Balsam bashing was fun but there’s still an awful lot of it out there!

Julia