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This Summer has been quiet and uneventful. I suppose it was the weather but to make up for that the weather seems to have favoured fruit production: plenty of blackberries, apples and varieties of damsons. We plan to plant more fruit trees this Autumn, choosing sites favourable to the trees but weighing up how much of the grassland area we think that we should use.

As usual our major effort was the Summer cut of the Common grassland carried out once again by the Chiltern Rangers. Our regime was dominated by cutting back the dense patches of invasive bramble and keeping the eastern end of the grassland trimmed to play on. This time Tony, the machine operator, was accompanied by four of their volunteers who strimmed the verges down Windmill Hill and around the Umbrella Tree area.

So, the major subject of this Summer’s report is about the planting which we are planning in the Autumn and Winter. It is satisfying to be doing some ‘planting up’ as the main management tasks usually involve ‘cutting down’.

We have several areas earmarked for planting. We need to add some evergreen shrubs to the hedging plants down Windmill Hill and along Chalk Hill to shelter the woodland area but planting it back from the road and leaving a wide verge which could be managed with a couple of cuts of a strimmer.

Then on the corner of Windmill Hill and Chalk Hill where we cleared the willows last Winter we will be planting a tree or two, certainly a Common Alder. Also to the right coming down Wheatsheaf Path there are two areas that we will prepare for planting a few trees. Suitable trees in these damp areas would be Birches and Alders. The planting of susurrating Aspens would be lovely if they could be relied upon not to sucker in all directions.

Also, when the shrubs around the electricity relay station were planted, we were advised to plant a conventional hedge plant mixture. Now, when we consider the reality of this advice, we notice that many of these plants are tree species and deciduous, so that in the Winter they do not screen the relay station. We will add the evergreen shrub privet into the hedging, which will do that job for us in time. We could allow some of the tree species to grow to maturity.

After the grass cutting was finished we began to clear back two big areas of Rosebay Willow Herb where we would like to extend the ‘informal’ orchard. We plan to tend the trees better next year.

marigoldThe Village Pond has been left to itself after the planting of a few species which have thrived in the silt behind the low hazel hurdles. This Winter more hurdles will be made and set up in the pond in order to increase the area for a greater variety of pond marginals. That may then be sufficient. Establishing some open-water species would be next. I planted the excellent open-water plant Broad-Leaved Pondweed, which didn’t thrive, but thankfully I have a few spares in my pond. A good fringe of water plants is developing. We think that we will make sure a few stretches of bank are kept open.

A plant that regenerates annually on the bank is the curious Trifud Burr Marigold (Bidens Tripartita), also known as Beggarticks (see illustration to left). It is a shy annual which is not invasive in our pond so far, so it is good to see it back each Summer.
Graham Thorne

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