On a glorious February morning, a small team of Rotarians (Dave Stewart, David Pollard and Mark Butcher), along with regular supporter Dave Pearson and Twyford residents: Andy Coates, Liz and Mark Harrison, planted 4 large (4 meters plus) standard Elm trees in the Watermeadows alongside Churchfield Road. As usual, the saplings are of a disease resistant variety, in the hope that some or all of them will survive and grow to their full potential.
Thankfully, the local team had already dug holes that were almost good enough for the job, but given the size of the saplings and exact placement in a “hedge” of other trees, it still took us 2 hours to get them all planted.
As you can see from the photos, we have given them very substantial protection. Given the openness of the location, we need to protect them against Deer and Rabbits.
We also had to work in the midst of a flock of sheep, owned by the wildlife trust, who took a liking to the mulch that we’d taken with us, and for some reason really liked the taste of the sledgehammer handle!
The team very much appreciated tea and coffee afterwards, kindly provided by Liz who had to walk all the way to the other side of the village and drive back with the drinks!
For more photos, see here.
The team has at least two more planting sessions coming up, so if you’re interested in helping, please contact Mark Butcher as soon as possible:
- The morning of Wednesday, March 5th: Cornerstone Primary School in Whiteley – Contact made through Sudhakar Achwal, current Deputy Mayor of Winchester.
- The afternoon of Thursday, March 6th: Winchester Cathedral.
For more information on what our environment team gets up to, please see here.
