Spring in the Woods

Thank you Nic Peate for this weeks blog post :-)  Nic works for Brecon & District Mind as a Recovery Support Worker & My Generation Facilitator. Nic also runs the Wednesday allotment group in Brecon and is a Gardener herself....

​Spring this year has been particularly special, with all its promise, renewal and beauty. For me, the buds, bulbs and seeds containing the blueprint for new life are very sustaining and fill me with hope... The new growth keeps happening despite all the difficulties. This year the silver lining to our cloud has been that many of us have really enjoyed the weather and tuned in to things close to home like the bird song. We have focused on things that have not had our attention for a while. 

Near to where I live there is piece of woodland owned by a neighbour that I am helping to regenerate. Much of it was replanted about 20 years ago. Some of the trees were becoming completely swamped by brambles and other plants such as the invasive Himalayan balsam. It has to be said that we grow a particularly fine bramble around these parts! & they definitely have their place however, some trees were being killed off by them. So I embarked on clearing paths, removing some of the brambles, checking very carefully first for any nesting birds. 

I uncovered some beech, birch, wild cherry, oak, ash & mountain ash trees giving them more space & light. In the spaces I planted some more trees. Underneath some of the bigger trees were some grassy glades with beautiful bluebells, ferns & other wildflowers, one day it will be a fantastic woodland. So this strange year of 2020 I will remember, not just as the year of the terrible Coronavirus but also as the year that I had the opportunity to enjoy & enrich a little bit of our local environment. 
​
Nic.