With Pete (the Wildman of Kinglake) and Julian we went down in midweek for a spot of maintenance on the Wildlife Area and Hedge. There have been some worrying developments with some damage to the vegetation and some separate concrete fly-tipping.
People often forget how fragile and easily obliterable this little piece of greenery it actually is.
Beside a little cleaning and some planting and gardening are never amiss. So we trooped there in good mood and the weather was fine.
Julian first, as usual, to check out what to do.
He had already alerted the Park Administration about the concrete and they had promised to send someone to remove it. Usually this is all is necessary and fly-tips and bulky rubbish get collected within a couple of days.
Occasionally in spite of Julian dedication and good relationship with the Park Administration things do not work out and in this case the concrete was still there days after.
Eventually and pragmatically Julian took on himself the job few days later.
The Wildman of Kinglake was himself in his element, rooting and huffing around our beloved oak sapling. This year we will try to keep the trail build at the time of the BBC "Breathing Places" program open and so will cut back the vegetation enough to ensure passage. The idea is to see if less people will cross to the front "plaza" directly from the Albridge Street and so diminishing the yearly damage to the rest of the vegetation. It is quite a challenge as the herbaceous plants have established themselves firmly on the path the previous years.
This year the area is booming and thanks mostly to Julian especially the Wild Hedge, from the Wildlife Area along the kickabout in Albridge Street show its true colours. Plenty of Red campions (Silene dioica) and the blackcurrant (Ribes) that the much missed Alison planted there last year is still going strong and even the humble plantain (Plantago ssp) look great.
As has become usual in these visits we documented what we could.
Pete photographed it few days earlier coming out of one of the nest boxes we placed in the area last year.
Blue Tit In Box
Hawthorn Flowers
Here some beautiful flower from the common hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna)
At the end however it is the impression produced on the people living around this little oasis that will determine its future. Here is the impression that Julian appearance has on Frank while he's attempting to sneak by unnoticed: