We need help from members! Please watch the shoutbox and/or Club Facebook group for dates and try and come when you can.
Trees block Northerly/North Westerly/Westerly winds, so those of us doing wind powered sports are keen to manage them. The local bird watching group want more sight lines to the reservoir too, so happily we both want the same thing! We're working hard to combat where trees are encroaching onto the headland in the Nature Reserve area to the West of the clubhouse and have agreed with UU and the bird watchers what we can and can't do and when. The reservoir level is low now - in fact, much lower than we'd like it to be! The only good thing about that is it gives us a few weeks to pull up saplings and cut branches off larger trees in this area. We then cut these up and stack them above high water level (so they don't float away), ideally in a 'dead hedge'. The rotting wood is good for insects and birds then feed off these. And the whole lot shrinks in size massively over time.
Fred is leading the work. He's been going several times each week, sometimes with a few volunteers, and has achieved a lot! But it's a big job, so he/we would like help please.
We're using:
- tree popper tools borrowed from the bird watching group - these grip small trees/roots and lever them out of the ground
- mattocks (like a pick axe, but with a wider, flatter blade) to clear around the base of the tree and sometimes to lever roots
- rechargeable reciprocating saw and loppers to cut branches
- brush cutter to cut saplings to about 30cm above ground, so the tree poppers can get to some tree stems
Then we have to gather everything and carry or drag it on a tarpaulin before stacking it near to the fence.
So, there's something everyone can have a go at, whether you like using power tools, hand tools, or prefer just to tidy all the debris away!
Here's Fred in his natural environment ...!
Here's some of the area after trees have been cut to 30cm above ground
And here's a pile of stumps pulled up in 3 hours by 1 person
