The friends of Ightenhill were undertaking some memorial tree maintenance today.
I assisted by removing a 2×2 foot square of grass top from around the tree, Then dug down a few inches to remove a small amount of the top soil. Whilst removing some of the top soil I levelled off the areas, removed the stakes that had held the tree in place for many years, and also edged off the area with a half moon. I did this for four of their memorial trees. They returned quite happy with the work I had completed for them. I then met with playground team and parks officer to discuss possibilities for play equipment repair. The volunteers continued work on the Memorial trees, they laid mesh netting over the exposed soil area to prevent weeds from growing through. They then laid woodchip above the netting within the square boundaries which hid the netting whilst adding a lovely contrast to the grass.

Thursday marked the first session of Quarry Club. An ex-quarry now turned nature reserve thanks to the help of Trees for Burnley who, in the early 90’s, planted the site with trees. I had scheduled work for a month at this site including cutting back weeds either side of the path, removing dead wood, and removing low hanging branches. Five residents of the area came to volunteer and as a result we managed much of the scheduled work for the month in a single session! Between us all we managed to clear the paths of overgrown weeds, cut back the roots, cut the low hanging branches down. We also managed to cut back some of the piles of dead wood that had been left, and work on some of the windfallen trees that have come down in recent storms.  

Wednesday the 26^th marked the first session of friends of Clifton Wood.
Helen and I started by widening the paths through the small woodland. Over the years they had become completely overgrown and, in some areas, made it impossible for anyone to walk through. Helen and I first removed overreaching branches that encroached into the pathway. Then, we cut back weeds, nettles and brambles. We increased the width of the path so that anyone were able to walk through it safely without being stung or scratched.
Brendon, a new volunteer, joined us and helped us with these activities, to finish up the session both Helen and Brendon litter picked the site.

Friends of Ightenhill Park. 

I joined Kath and Irelene in the vegatable garden for the first time. We prepared soil for vegetables, pruning dead leaves, and rotating vegetables around the polytunnel. I then went to help Ian and David move soil that was left over from filling the planters. We moved soil from the ton bags to a designated soil bay within the compound. We also helped Kath and Irelene by taking soil to the potato plot to help mound up the potato’s around the stems.  As potato’s grow, they need soil to be mound up around the plant, to encourage more spud growth!

Today marked the day of working on the circular bed outside the front of Towneley Hall by the pond and Cafe. It was overrun with self-seeded trees, brambles, and undesirable plants. They had to go. Working on the bed was Helen, Hazel, Karen, David, Jason, Mirabela, and myself. You often find when working on a circular bed that one completes work in segments, and that you end where you started.