Halo Thinning
Tuesday, January 28th 2020
Visitors to the Foxglove will notice some changes as they drive along the main access road; staff and volunteers have been busy thinning around some of the more special trees alongside the track.
Trees that were planted a few years ago had become completely overcrowded and were struggling for nutrients. In some cases their growth had been stunted.
Several days have been spent in this part of the reserve removing young Birch trees and Gorse to free up the space for species such as Rowan and Cherry. This woodland management technique involves cutting away some of the excess trees to allow a dominant individual the space to carry on developing and flourishing. In addition, it will allow more light to reach the ground and therefore encourage more wildflowers to grow.
Further along the road, a couple of large Birch trees that were at risk of falling onto the track were felled. This was a careful operation and a rope had to be used to pull the tree away from the perimeter fence.
Not only were these tall Birch a potential hazard, they would also have made millions of seeds that would compete with the Willow too. Thinning work will continue here over the next few weeks for the same reasons outlined above.
Our thanks as usual to the fantastic team of Conservation volunteers who also fixed some steps in the woodland, repaired part of the lake tower hide platform and provided amazing homemade cherry cake!
On Monday, students from the Dales School worked on improving a section of footpath. The surface was then compacted with the wacker plate to make it super wheelchair friendly. The pupils enjoyed learning about the different tools and seeing the transformation from a rough uneven surface to a new smoother one. They will complete the task next time they visit.
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