A repair job

August 2018

The strimming had been finished by the time we got there, which was a good thing. We avoid mechanical noise when we can, though some others on the team love the gadgetry of strimmers and mowers and the like. The walled garden and its surroundings had become a bit overgrown, despite weeks of heat, sunshine, and little rain. At this time of year, the pond has to be left alone so as not to disturb the wildlife – in particular, the large population of great-crested newts. For the same reason, the surrounding vegetation has to be left long and dense enough to maintain a safe understorey - if that’s the right term to use.

Raking

We raked up the cut grass, willow herb, thistles and brambles and dumped them out of sight down a steep bank in nearby woods. We had also cut back willow shrubbery where it was encroaching on the pond, but that was to be put to good use.

Filling the bags

Tackling the willow

Uphill from the stables, on the fringe of the West Wood, is the Playscape – a woodland area of things to play in and on. The recently added feature of a woven, living willow dome had died. We mocked the skill level of the rangers who had constructed it, but that was, perhaps, unfair given this summer’s weather. A nearby willow tunnel, constructed by your bloggers two years ago with help from volunteers Terry and Mary, is thriving.  But that’s probably not so much to do with our weaving skills as being well-established and sited in a near-permanently damp hollow. We used the willow cut from the walled garden to strengthen and green it – this time with help from Lorna and David. It’s not the best time of year to do it but, with a bit of moisture, willow usually takes root.

Repairing the dome

The finished job

Whilst we were doing that, some of the team planted willow cuttings in the collapsing banks of the stream that runs through the trees, and others replaced decayed rails on the log bridge that spans it. Children gathered, eager to be the first to cross.

It was another warm day. Jobs done, we took our lunch beside Octagon Pond and sat watching common darters (a species of dragonfly) come and go, and a little grebe repeatedly dive, surfacing only briefly. Apart from observing the wildlife, it was interesting to study the contents of lunch boxes. Clearly visible was beetroot in buns, and someone even had olives.  Thought people only did that sort of thing in Mediterranean countries; maybe it’s the weather.

DO NOT DISTURB!

Male Common darter

Female Common darter

Harvest time

French beans

Globe artichoke

Surplus produce awaits a good home

A riot of colour in The Walled Garden

Steve Wootten & Phil Coyne

Snipes Dene

July 2018

Snipes Dene is thriving. It must be some eight or nine years ago since much of the valley was laid waste by the removal of the Forestry Commission’s timber crop. A large part of that crop was western hemlock – a fast growing North American import. That’s good for business perhaps but, for Gibside Rangers and us volunteers, it’s just another non-native, invasive species to control. And that’s a battle. Over the intervening years, we must have pulled up tens of thousands of western hemlock saplings. There will be more battles ahead, but it’s safe to say the war is won.

Snipes Dene regeneration

In the summer of 2011 we selected a section of the Dene to survey and, over the next few years attempted to monitor its regeneration. At the start, this was a leisurely enough pursuit. The ground was largely free of cover, and provided with some substantial tree stumps on which to drink coffee, eat sandwiches, and study nature. Our survey area was roughly demarcated by a few oak, beech, birch and sycamore which had been left standing. Along with existing holly and alder, all had soon produced saplings. Broom, gorse and rowan were early colonisers too, together with patches of stinging nettles, red campion, ling, bilberry and lots of foxgloves. For the best part though, the ground remained bare, its decaying wood seemingly only populated by hordes of spiders. Quite what they were eating was a mystery; there wasn’t even an ant or woodlouse to be seen.

New Rowan trees

Two years later, we recorded many more touches of colour, and grasses, rushes, bramble and raspberry were well established. In the summer of 2015 we gave up; the site had become impenetrable. Elsewhere in the Dene the rate of regeneration had been patchy, and had been boosted by the planting of a good mix of native broadleaf. Although we still have to get in there and cut out the persistent western hemlock and rhododendron, today Snipes Dene is a fine wooded valley. And so it should be: along with much of Gibside, it is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Ladybird larva

Adult Ladybird

Common blue butterfly seen in Hollow Walk

Small skipper butterfly

A friendly pair of blue damselflies

Once again the walled garden is bursting with colourful blooms

Steve Wootten & Phil Coyne