It’s always a tremendous feeling to be at the start of a wildflower-glade creation. Sowing the seeds that we collected last summer, and adding new seeds to the mix, to try to increase the biodiversity.

To not do this means we are left with a much reduced diversity and a drab block of aging bramble scrub from start to finish, with nothing really happening underneath it.

What we want, instead, is a mixture of wildflower-rich grassland, young bramble scrub that is up to three years old, and hedges at the edges.

Obviously, we cannot eat the wildflowers, well we could if we put them in a salad, but we do provide food in the form of nectar for pollinators, and we do harvest seeds ready for next year, so in effect, we are doing the farmering bit, from sowing to harvesting.

Unfortunately, muggins made the typical school-boy error of forgetting a mattock to grub out the bramble roots. Leaving the roots means we will be overrun with the wretched stuff by mid summer.

Grubbing the roots out with rakes was interesting, to say the least!!

The transition from path to grass, to longer grass, to hedge or scrub is so important for the movement of insects, birds and mammals. Even now, whilst it is still a little cool, there are signs of life.

If you look closely, you can see the trees that I laid into a hedge starting to sprout new growth!! It’s amazing, but I doubt it will win any awards for looking pretty and neat.

Next, we cracked on with staining the last two picnic benches at this end of the trail.

If I had £1 for every time these benches have been tossed down the bank by the angry teenage mob, I’d have enough cash for two pints of lager and a packet of crisps.

Whilst they have served us well over the years, some serious TLC needs to be carried out on them towards the end of the season. Another fun wood-working workshop to look forward to, and we are let-loose with the power-tools again. A win win!

Some early wildflowers popping up, not that I was particularly looking for wildflowers today.

All recorded using the iRecord tab above, which feeds into a national database and lets the flora and fauna boffins know what sort of state the UK wildlife is in.

Next one is a weekender at the Heath View bench and then after that it’s at the same bench, staining it, and the others, working northwards.

Until next time!