TIME TO PLACE YOUR BETS
LADIES AND GENTS!
To plant early or to plant later?
This week the NCVs assisted with the second part of a haymeadow restoration experiment. Regular readers may remember that, back at the start of June, the gang planted up one half of a number of upland meadows with red clover plug plants.
Now it was time to plant up the other half of each field. The aim of the investigation is to see if earlier or later planting has a more successful outcome. The earlier ones will have had to cope with a dry spell (although that has been well made up for during July!!). These later ones will have been spared the early summer drought but won't have long to establish before livestock is set loose to graze the grasslands. It will be next year before the final results will be known but perhaps you would like to place your bets on the outcome now?
Here are the NCVs busy planting those plugs....
Another good turn out promised
another early finish. Everybody eagerly
awaited starter's orders.
Claire issued instructions and gave
out the clip booards and maps.
Now then Andy - where was it
that Claire said we had to go again?
As usual - the plugs needed to be poked out of their plug 'oles.
That's it - out you pop little plugs.
As soon as the plugs were set free each group got down to earth and started the planting.
Remember - clusters of 5 please folks.
Both Rachael and Julia were entrusted with the all important clipboards to note down
the grid references of their groups' clusters.
This important step will ensure that Claire will be able to find the clusters next summer.
The clusters needed watering in. It may be the first Tuesday in September
but the weather was HOT!!
So hot that many NCVs needed to seek
shade from the handy barn at lunchtime.
Others preferred to bask in the rays when they got the chance.
Once the 688 plugs were plugged in,
it was time to go home.
Now it's time to spin the wheel and see what ensues.
Watch this space!!
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