Nature's Gym by the orchard Nov 2024

 21st November 2024

Nature's Gym - their final session in Mayow Park was in an area behind the orchard where a large tree had been felled and the trunk left on the ground for wildlife. The felling also opened the space to sunlight where there had previously been deep shade.

The plan was to 

• enhance  the stag beetle loggery built a few weeks ago by adding more upright logs half buried in the ground

• drill holes in the tops of the logs to encourage solitary bees to nest

• clear away brambles encroaching into the orchard

• plant hedgerow whips to infill gaps at the hedgerow by the hard standing.

Jane and Donna got to work using a spade and an adze to dig a long trench and gather the prepared logs from the loggery that had been built a few weeks earlier.  

Jane also sawed some logs to different sizes. 

These logs will stand upright in the trench, part buried in the ground and gradually rot down. 

The rotting logs will  hopefully attract stag beetles to lay eggs which will  develop into larvae, munching through the wood for up to seven years before emerging as majestic stag beetles.

Emily brought a drill and sat on the ground to drill a series of holes in what would be the tops of the logs. 

Mike, Charles and Sue took on the task of cutting back the brambles. (No photos), collecting all the arisings and piling them up to create wildlife habitats.

Charles and Alona planted some whips in the gaps between the trees in the existing hedgerow.

The finished loggery (see below) - thank you Donna and Jane. 

We had tea and biscuits when the work was done and all equipment packed away. A  very enjoyable session.

An artistic member of the Friends of Mayow Park is in the process of designing an interpretation sign for the loggery and we hope to have it in a couple of weeks.

BRAMBLE BASHING

 At our orchard maintenance sessions, volunteers could see that the scrub behind the orchard (mainly brambles and elder) was spreading too close to some of the orchard trees. This would affect the growth of our fruit trees in time, with brambles competing for soil nutrients.

Cutting back was the only way. We had our team of volunteers but the task was too overwhelming for us with our hand tools alone - secateurs and loppers.
Fortunately Glendale managers agreed. Glendale is the contracting company that manages the park on behalf of Lewisham Council; cutting back was on their schedule as part of Mayow Park green space maintenance tasks.
We were able to plan our volunteer session to tie in with a day when Glendale’s team was able to work on the task – Thursday 2^nd December.

Volunteers at work

Working with hand tools

The nature conservation value for wildlife of the dense hedge of brambles was not forgotten, but this is a public park and there is a need to maximise the grass area available to park users while maintaining spaces for wildlife. Doing this work in winter is probably the safest time.
Our team of volunteers worked with basic hand tools in an area close to the hard standing, while the Glendale team brought a power hedge cutter for the toughest sections. In some parts the brambles were cut back by 3 metres. 

Glendale team get ready

 open space cleared

After cutting back, the area was cleared and the plant matter we had cut was taken away by Glendale for composting.

Cut vegetation removed for composting

That area looks more open and welcoming to park users now.

All photos credit D Budden