Preparing for our pond

Just before Christmas we stood in the middle of where our new pond will be and discussed the fate of these coppiced ash trees, with Neil and Nick, James Buckle's employees.

We needed to decide how much of the hedge needed to be coppiced again in order to let light into the pond and reduce the amount of leaves that will fall into it in the Autumn. So all of the trees between the footpath (on the left of the photo) will be cut down and allowed to re-grow to hedge height and more hedging will be planted in the gaps.



After the storm

On a calm day, following the storm, I wandered round the wood and was pleasantly surprised to find very little damage. A few branch had broken off some of  the big trees in the hedgerow  but otherwise, everything was fine.
Seeds,berries and autumnal leaves decorated  the woodland

The mature, coppiced ash trees all look well and free from die back and have a huge crop of seeds dangling from their branches.

I couldn't find many  fungi and nearly missed this tiny one that was hidden in the grass along one of the rides.

Woodland Fun Event in October!

We had to postpone our Fun in the Sun day ealier in the year as there was too much going on in the village!
So we have set aside Saturday afternoon on October 5th for a bit of frivolity
The poster explains all.

Hope to see you there!

Wild Flowers.

The middle area of the wood is nearly ready for the pupils at Elmsett School to plant some wildflower plugs dring the second week of term. There's just a bit more strimming and clearing to do, then the areas for the plants need to be turned over to deter the grass from growing.

The wood is teeming with butterflies and bumble bees, attracted by the ragwort and other wildflowers. The mature coppiced Ash trees in the hedgerow seem free of dieback and are producing copious bundles of seeds.

The BIg Butterfly Count.

This sunny, warm weather, with gentle breezes is ideal for butterflies and there are many in Buckle's Wood.You might like to spend 15 minutes to take part in this year's Big Butterfly Count. It's very easy and helps the Butterfly and Moth conservation Trust to keep track of how these precious creatures are coping with loss of habitat, pesticides and unusual weather conditions.
Just print the identification sheet that is lon theri website, make a note of how many of each type of butterfly that you see and send them the info on line.

Great News

Our planning application for a pond has been approved by Babergh District Council. We hope to do the work during the winter, with help from James Buckle and his digger driver.

Meanwhile the wood is looking good, with many wildflowers growing along the rides, bees and other pollinating insects zipping about and an increasing number of butterflies flitting from flower to flower.

The Pyramidal Orchid has survived the winter and it was great to see a large patch of Yellow Rattle growing in the grass between the trees--I didn't spot them last year!

 

The clumps of Tufted Vetch were attracting the bees and butterflies.

Late spring

Over the last couple of weeks the wood has sprung into life. Trees, grasses and wildflowers all energetically aimimg for the sky! Lots of small insects are moving about in the grass with one or two brown butterflies and a blue one which flittered out of site before I could take a photo. Not many bees--as yet.

This spider's web  caught my attention as it sparkled in the sunshine. I'll put the photo on ispot to get an identification from the web--but the spider was rather shy!

I almost walked past this tiny vetch. It was only when I knelt down  to take this photo that I realised it was spread  over quite a large area along the edge of one of the rides.

Planning a pond

Well-- it's taken ages to sort out the Buckle's Wood planning application for  retrospective change of land use and  creation  of our wildlife pond, partly due to my aversion to filling in forms.
The forms were delivered today and I've just received an email from the planning department, thanking  me for the application. I shall be contacted if the paperwork lacks the right information and if everything is OK we shall know in 6 to 8 weeks if the application is successful.
Meanwhile, we need to relocate some of the trees that we planted in the south west corner to make room for our pond and put up some notices to inform our many woodland walkers of our plans!

Creating a pond

In 1993, when the playground was altered to  accommodate Elmsett School's Community Recycling Centre, the pond area was landscaped were made made safe for the pupils to use as an environmental resource. Wild flowers and additional trees were planted. The pond was cleared out and a  dipping platform was built.   When the new play area on the meadow was built last year, the surplus soil was used to fill in the pond.

The original design for Buckle's Woodincluded a pond. The plan was drawn by Greville from The Green Light Trust, using ideas from  the pupils and members of the community.  As all the trees have been planted, and the village has lost the School's pond, the management group have decided that this year will be a good time for a Pond in Buckle's Wood. 

With guidance from Juliet Hawkins, our pond will be safe, environmentally friendly feature that will attract a greater variety of wildlife into our woodland.



This is where the pond will be!