13-12-2019 - Rhodo bashes and other messy work at Kingston Hill :)

Rhodobashes and a day in the pond at Kingston Hill. At the start of the month, we donned our waders and walking boots and got working in the Kingston Hill wildlife pond, working to create areas of open water in our pond. 

The majority of this pond is shallow and great for a diversity of wildlife from amphibians to dragonflies and damselflies as well as a variety of water beetles. The only issue with shallow ponds are that they can often dry up - this actually isn't a problem for a lot of the wildlife in the pond in most circumstances. 

But the perception of ponds needing water at all times, can lead to people wanting to fill ponds with tap water. Tap water isn't the best for ponds because of the chemicals in the water which are added to keep water fresh for human consumption. 

However if ponds start to dry completely every year, it can start to limit the life cycles of some species. 

Which was why, we were really happy to find that there was one area that was a lot deeper in the pond then the other sections - as discovered by some of our volunteers who went in a little too deep! - thank you for taking the hit for the team and the wildlife! 

This deeper area should retain levels of damp mud and possibly overlying water each year until the late summer, so even when the rest of the pond looks dry, it should provide a refuge for a proportion of the wildlife in the pond which need water. 

Our second team on the day, took on the fiddly work of digging out the very shallow young rhodo plants which were establishing in the woodland edge amongst the bramble and the bracken. While it was slow going, the end result in the big cuttings pile shows just how much they removed. 

With a couple of years more of root clearance from this area, it may be ready for sapling planting as undertaken in 2018. 

 

During our second rhodo bash of the year, I may have been in a wee fanciful mood on the day but we started the misty morning spotting dragons on the horizon. 

Before we went into battle against the mighty hordes of rhododendron holding our woodland hostage. 

We managed to free two oaks and a silver birch from the depths of their fortifications, but we have more to do. 

Freed up trees and some of the cuttings piles

Our aim is to never leave a tree behind, why not join us in January and help us free up more of our woodland from the dreaded clutches of the ponticum family! You can sign up for the next salvo on our eventbrite page here for the 11th of January.

Until next time :)