Spring into action

March 2023, and time for more planting. 

We had previously cleared an area on the edge of the west woods, including chopping & logging a large dead tree. First task was to relocate the logs to an off-track wooded area near the Hall School. This required 2 or 3 'Zak' loads plus the final manhandling from truck to woods.

The logs were piled into several heaps, which will create a nice little habitat for animals and insects alike.

Then it was back to plant wild privet, spindle, dogwood & hazel, followed later by mulching with woodchip.

Above: You can just make out the new young plants, which became much more visible after mulching.

There was a spell of sleet and snow showers the following week when we re-sited two large 'awning' poles outside of the lodge. 

The plan was to move the poles to the edge of the patio area. There are hooks on top of the poles for securing an awning/canopy, which would be used for various park functions.

Two 4ft deep holes were dug to anchor the poles. 

They were then lifted out of their existing holes (located within deep sunken metal tubes - not cemented) with the aid of a tractor, and dropped into place.

We used hardcore, cement and some of the old earth to fix them into position.

More mulching with woodchip was carried out in March. We concentrated mainly on the numerous caged trees around the park, clearing away weeds and clumps of grass that had sprung up since the last time they were done.

Then it was onto clearing an area of snowberry, again with the intention of new planting later.

Another group of volunteers from city college had already made a start here. These bushes are quite thick, and require being chopped at the base using loppers. Once cut, they were then piled into neat heaps ready for the wood chipper.

We had been unable to use the wood chipper for a few weeks whilst it was waiting for repair.

However, as soon as it was available, we had a full day's use catching up. Not with the snowberry though.

We managed endless piles of previously cut branches. Starting with cedar, followed by Elm and then willow. Feeding all that wood through the chipper doesn't half make your arms ache!

Above: One of the many piles of elm branches.

Elm, Sycamore & Laurel

December 2022 and into the new year.

The next three months consisted mainly of cutting and clearing trees.

The first were sycamores in a area by the east woods. The larger trees were chain-sawed and cut into logs, whilst the branches were lopped and heaped into piles for chipping.

There was a really cold spell in the middle of the month (-6c first thing!).

We then moved across to the west woods for more of the same (chain-sawing, logging & lopping). This time it was elm trees which had been marked red for identification.

2023 began with a day of removing ivy from the trees along the fence-line on St Faiths Road.

This usually involves cutting out a metre section around each trunk, but we couldn't resist pulling down as much of vines as possible. Ben and I were covered in bits of bark, leaf and dust!

There was one tree we couldn't manage as it will need a chain-saw to cut through the thick vine!.

The following week we planted out new bed in the picnic area. This was virtually a repeat of shrub planting carried out in Feb' 22. There was dogwood, rose, June berry, flowering currant, mock orange, winter honeysuckle, wayfaring tree & wild service tree.

The last two weeks of January and beginning of February involved the cutting, clearing and chipping of laurel. This work covered various sites across the park and will enable us to carry out new planting in the future.

Again, the larger trees were chain-sawed and cut into logs, and the branches were arranged into neat piles for chipping. The logs will be taken back to the lodge and stored for drying out.

Before our next job, there was another visit to the Victorian pond to clear out the usual bottles, cans, wrappers and branches (what lovely people). This time there was even a traffic cone!

We needed extendable nets & ropes, even lashing two of the poles together to get the reach. Unfortunately, this took us most of the morning.

Above: Pond clearing paraphernalia.

The end of February saw us clearing a dense patch of shrubs/brambles etc, ready for fresh planting later. We also managed a quick trip to the recreation ground to plant some beech hedging whips along the fence-line by the cricket field.

A day at the Beech

It is now October 2022 and first up was to plant a 'Friends of Catton Park' tree (Texana Oak), complete with metal cage and woodchip mulching.

Next, we planted 2 Hawthorn Trees, carried out more strimming, removed the 'tree bags'* for winter and did some more work on the willow tunnel (planting, pruning, shaping).

*Tree bags are designed to be filled with a hose, then slowly release the water directly onto the roots. These bags wrap around the base of a tree and provide a slow and persistent water source.

October was turning out to be very mild, but we had heavy rain on the 20th. We started with a litter pick and then had an early break to dry off!

One of the less pleasing jobs was to level the ground where a park bench had been removed, tape-off the area and scatter grass seed onto it. The reason for the removal was because the bench had been vandalised by fire. 😡

At the car park on Oak Lane, the sweet chestnut had covered the ground with it's bountiful fruit, so it was necessary to clear all the husks etc back to the fence-line.

The mild weather continued into November.

The beech hedge lining the Church Street entrance needed topping, roughly to the height of the fence. We used a scaffold tower and began lopping & sawing through the trunks & branches, which were then piled into heaps around the corner awaiting chipping. 

We must have taken 6-8ft off the height of the hedge. 

The entrance was then blasted with the leaf blower.

Before and after photos

Another delivery from the Woodland Trust meant that the next 2 weeks involved planting approximately 400 seedlings or whips! These were placed in existing beds to increase the cluster of plants. Canes and plastic guards were added for protection.

We were joined by a new volunteer (Ben) on the second week, which also included some path edging along the main route.

 

Parched

The hot weather continued into August 2022.

Back at Repton pond, we carried out some more weeding. Amy had the task of thinning out the lilies (rather precariously stretched out horizontally over an extendable ladder to the fountain - which thankfully was not timed to be on).

We would visit again in September and October, to cut back the bushes and shrubs, plus any other plants that had 'gone over' since flowering.

The lodge/picnic area had been decked out with lights and bunting for the jubilee, and it was now time to take this down, followed by lots of watering.

Watering continued to be the main theme for August, mostly around the picnic area. There was also some tidying up of vegetation by the lodge pond, and some lilies were removed in order to thin it out.

The shrubs in front of the lodge received a 'haircut', and there was further cutting back along Oak Lane.

Before and after photos of the short back & sides.

Into September, and the woodchip bay was getting very low, so the next mulching job meant using some quite old chippings - it was more like compost!

This week heralded the return of some much needed rain (thunder too!).

The wet weather got things growing again, so the middle of the month saw us strimming the 'nuttery' and an area close to the dead 'climbing' tree.

We continued coating more of the wood sculptures with decking oil, then it was back to  strimming.

The end of the month involved planting trees. Two existing metal cages in the parkland had dead trees, and these were replaced with an Indian Horse Chestnut & a Hungarian Oak.

Right: Indian Horse Chestnut

A further seven trees were planted in the picnic area;

2 Japanese Larch, 

2 Katsura, 

Williow Leafed Beech, 

Arizona Cypress 

Hungarian Oak. 

Weeding, Watering & Woodchip

Moving into the heat of the summer 2022, our attention was definitely focused on weeding, watering & mulching.

Everything is growing so fast, so there was quite a bit of strimming too. During the Platinum Jubilee week, I managed a large litter pick and another go at clearing debris from the Victorian pond (a constant annoyance).

Everyone enjoying the celebrations at Old Catton Recreation Ground. Nice day for it.

We strimmed the usual favourites (around the Victorian pond, the dead 'climbing' tree and woodland path edges), plus the area around park benches & sculptures.

There was weeding and pruning around Repton pond, before clearing another of the planted beds (mainly nettles & bramble), to enable us to add more woodchip.

Watering around the park meant filling and attaching a bowser to the back of 'Zak'. This was filled quite a few times!

Watering was also needed on one of the beds in the picnic area. However, a lot of weeding was required before we could start.

Next was the blackthorn by Catton Hall (planted and mulched in March).

   

The mammoth task of the month was covering the hazel trees (the nuttery) which had been planted last December. As the area was not accessible by the Kawasaki, we could only drive to the entrance of the woods, transfer the woodchip into barrows and wheel them down through the woods before spreading the chippings around the young trees. 

We completely filled the back of 'Zak' 6 times and estimated there were 50 barrow load trips!

During our many visits to the woodchip pile, I came across this unusual sight.

It's not what you think. It's actually Dog Vomit Slime Mold', which begins as a bright yellow gelatinous growth, emanating from spores in the mulch (usually after periods of rain).

But that wasn't the excitement of the day, it was checking out a sparrowhawk's nest complete with 4 chicks!

July was pretty much the same, as far as weeding and watering was concerned. Time again to remove the toxic ragwort in the long grass. There seemed to be a lot less this year, which may be credit to our efforts last year.

Circus Cortex has arrived!

There was a record breaking heatwave in the third week of July (37C). Thankfully not on any of my days at the park!

Other jobs included coating the wood sculptures with decking oil, tidy-up/paint the various notice boards around the park, mending gates and even painting out graffiti on BT cupboards in the parish.

There was also more lopping of branches along pathways.

The Great Gates of Catton

No connection here with Emerson Lake & Palmer or Mussorgsky, but there will be a mention about the great gates later in the post.

The end of March 2022 saw a return to wintry conditions. Wearing extra layers to combat the cold and gusting winds, we planted out a mixture of Scots pine, Japanese larch, Caucasian fir & sweet briar rose - some in the picnic area and some along the new beds by the west woods.

Then it was back to more clearing of laurel in the woods near Catton Hall. There are now many piles of cuttings awaiting to be fed through the chipper, assuming we can negotiate a path to them.

A week later, and further strong winds. This time we were levelling mole hills in the picnic area, ready for the mowing season. This created about 3 or 4 barrow loads of soil, which we used to fill various 'dog burrowing holes' around park benches.

Then on to more litter picking. The favourite spots seem to be around the bus stops on St Faiths Road. Unfortunately, a popular place for people to discard their crisp bags, bottles, sweet wrappers and cans etc, whilst waiting for the bus. 

Responding to a report of possible storm damage to trees, we searched through the woods to make sure the pathways were safe. Luckily there were no fallen trees, but we did find some broken branches, a couple of which were still hanging precariously.

The rest of April and beginning of May consisted mainly of strimming and mulching (as you would expect at this time of year). Two beds in the picnic area and the willow tunnel were completely covered with woodchip, plus several caged trees.

There was a weeding & pruning session at Repton pond, followed by clearing some of the other prepared beds, mainly of nettles. This can be tricky, as we don't want to chop the hidden plants. We overcome this by locating and marking the each type with flags.

  

Back to the great gates, as previously mentioned. These beautiful Grade II listed gates are situated at South Lodge entrance on Oak Lane. 

Unfortunately, they had become covered in algae and needed a good clean. After cordoning-off the area and cutting back nettles and overhanging branches, we se about pressure washing.

This was quite a painstaking task, as there is a lot of fine detail to cover and you have to be careful not to do any damage with the force of the water. It took us a whole day to complete, but the results were plain to see.

Hoggin

March 2022 started with removing branches from a previously felled cherry laurel tree on the edge of the east woods. These were loaded onto a trailer ready to be chipped back at the lodge.

The cherry laurel gives off a smell of sweet almonds. However, care must be taken when chipping, as this can release toxic hydrocyanic fumes into the air.

Then it was off to the woods near Catton Hall, where we were continuing to cut down laurel bushes. Previous piles of cut branches lay in several parts of the wood. 

The second week of march involved planting Blackthorn 'bare-root' whips along the open fence-line in front of Catton Hall (approx 200). This took up most of the day, but also included removing lots of broken branches from under the nearby Sequoia tree - caused by recent storms.

 

We completed planting the blackthorn in the following week.

A new 'hoggin' path was being created along the edge of the west woods. Matt (warden) had already cut about 100m of pathway using the bucket of the tractor. Our task was to cut a deep edge along the path and raking the soil into the middle. The deep edges act as a retaining wall for the hoggin when it is spread onto the path, and the slightly raised centre will allow any surface water to drain off to the sides. 

  

The path was eventually extended to link up with the parking bay outside of the picnic area.

Hoggin is a mixture of gravel, sand and clay that compacts well to give a hard surface.

A wacker plate will be used to pack the surface.

    

New beds

February 2022 started with creating 2 new beds for future planting. The areas involved are either side of a bench by the edge of the west woods, near the picnic area. Work had commenced earlier with 'P' shaped clearances, but it was decided to create a much larger open stretch.

A large cherry tree was cut back to enable this. the surrounding scrub was cut away and raked back into the woods. All of the collected branches were fed through the chipper.

The original 'P' shaped clearance

The cut back cherry tree with branches woodchipped.

Further along from these beds, there was a dead elm tree that needed to be felled. For safety reasons, we cordoned off the surrounding area. We started by cutting away other dead wood and ivy to enable Amy to get the chainsaw onto the lower trunk. Then we attached a sling & shackle higher up the trunk and, with the aid of a long rope, I was able to guide the falling tree in the right direction.

A second dead elm was removed nearby using only rope.

Back at the picnic area, a prepared bed was ready to be planted out. There was a selection of red and black stemmed dogwood, scotch rose, dog rose, sweet box, winter honeysuckle, Amelanchier Lamarckii (June berry), King Edward VII flowering currant & Philadelphus Coronarius (mock orange).

Storm Dudley provided us with our first task on 17th February. A dead elm covered in ivy had been blown down, covering the pavement on Spixworth Road - breaking fencing in the process. After cordoning-off the area, we quickly cut up and removed the tree back behind the fence line.

Storm Eunice due on Friday!

Cutting out a metre section of ivy on a large tree behind the lodge/picnic area, proved to be tougher than anticipated. The ivy had a real stranglehold on the bark - quite thick in places.

However, with the aid of an axe, saw, loppers & crowbar, we finally managed to prise a section off.

The following week was very wet and muddy. Several more trees had sections of ivy removed. Again, we needed loppers saws and a crowbar to prise the ivy from the bark.

Then it was onto commence planting at the newly cleared strip. Over two visits, we managed to plant red & black stemmed dogwood, wild plum, mock orange, 2 types of box, flowering currant and Juneberry.

The Woodland Trust

2022 began with another litter picking exercise. We managed to fill a couple of sacks (mainly beer cans)!

Next job was to replace a gate post on the edge of the picnic area. the base of the old post had been concreted in, but we managed to break up the concrete enough to wiggle it out. 

New post in and looking good.

Back at the willow tunnel, more planting was carried out to increase the density. Unfortunately, most of the cuttings stored in the water butt had not survived, so we pruned some of the other willows trees and left a bundle to put back in the tub.

            The willow tunnel in winter.

January involved a lot of planting. There were a mixture of silver birch, crabapple, rowan, oak, wild cherry & downy birch. These seedlings are known as 'whips' and, each year, hundreds are provided free by the Woodland Trust. 

We loaded up 'Zak' and set off for the first site on the edge of the east woods. We used canes to mark where the whips were to be planted. 

The second site was on a corner, near the dead 'climbing tree'. We marked out as before, this time using plastic guards for added protection. Certainly a back breaking day, but well worth it.

The next job will be mulching the whole area with woodchip.

There was more planting the following week, this time was over at the recreation ground amongst the wooded area.

There were whips of Hawthorn, blackthorn, rowan, oak & downy birch.

We still had time, back at the park, to finish planting hazel in the 'nuttery'! 😅

New arrival

The good news for December 2021 was the receipt of a 4 wheeler Kawasaki Mule. This will help enormously in transporting all of the necessary tools, plants, materials etc to the far reaches of the park and beyond.

Our first job using 'Zak', was to clear a drain-off area near the Church Street entrance and remove scrub & sycamore on the corner of a planted tree bed next to the dead 'climbing tree'.

Scrub & sycamore cleared and deposited into the woods to decompose naturally.

Left: Side view of 'Zak'.

We were now ready to commence planting the young hazel trees in the cleared 'nuttery' area.

Christmas was now approaching, so time to collect some holly & ivy for decorations before making our way to the parish council office for a Christmas lunch.

Right: 'Rudolph' shining brightly at the Holiday House, Church Street.

During the break for Christmas and the New Year, I managed a couple of sessions litter picking. I covered virtually all of the park on both occasions and managed to fill 4 sacks of rubbish, bottles & cans! 😀 

Looking forward to 2022!