Filling bird feeders and pruning ..

Monday September 24th 2018

Neither Colin nor Chris able to help at school this morning so just me there working in wildlife area!

Arrived at school just after 8am ..first job was refilling all the bird feeders then sorting the bird food in the shed ready for next time…

Due to heavy rain over weekend decided ground too wet for more clearance work instead I pruned back overhanging spindleberry, brambles,wild roses,privet etc along by the top pathway..large bag of green waste added to compost bin..

Earlier caretaker brought another couple of large bags of leaves he’s swept up …have added these leaves to others already laid thickly on path in far copse.

Checked the “outdoor classroom “ seating near the pond which Chris painted with protective wood stain last Monday …all looking good… NB Chris will repair holes in tables and seats with filler ASAP.

Lovely autumnal colour on tree leaves this morning plus saw blackberries,other fruits,cyclamen flowers etc and a variety of birdsong heard

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Planting,watering,annual ground foliage clearing + 3 frogs!

Thursday 14th September 2018

Arrived school 8am …began work by planting crocus bulbs in the 2 new troughs at front of school plus daffodil bulbs in the 2 large wooden planters…

Rose arrived in time to assist …she’d brought 30 violas she’d grown at home …violas planted in pots and planters by front gate..

After signing in we headed to the school wildlife area…next task was taking 5 large sacks of leaves donated by caretaker these we spread along wildlife area paths!

Rose had also brought a large black bag full of pink cuttings from her garden…we had soil but needed lots of plant pots…this resulted in me emptying metal dustbin and yellow plastic box opposite shed…both had been there over 5 years and were full of yucky water and assorted plant pots!

Decided to have long overdue clear out so large sack of unwanted smaller plant pots bagged up and put in rubbish skip …sadly can’t be recycled.

Rescued 2 frogs from bin and box …released safely near wildlife pond…later 3rd frog jumped out from under a plant tray I moved alas too quick for me to catch …these frogs must have been moving up and down to the pond as there was pond duck weed in the bin and box…bit of a mystery as to why these frogs preferred the bin or box to the pond plus always thought frogs lived in undergrowth and only go to water to breed!

Rose next prepared the pink cuttings which I planted up in 24 large pots plus another 12 lots in 3 other larger containers..all newly planted pinks then watered …

Time next for very well earned coffee break …we were entertained by numerous grey squirrels scampering amongst the ash trees by the lower path..

Before packing up and leaving for home Rose and I spent another 45 minutes clearing and filling around 5 or 6 large bags of greenery from amongst the trees in the the grassy area below the top path..green waste added to composting area in copse near pond .

As there were lots of nettles we both got our arms stung quite severely in fact am still suffering 9 hours later!!!

 

 

 

 

Watering,feeding birds and weeding…

Monday September 10th 2018

Just me working this morning as both Colin and Chris had family commitments…

At school for 8am I began by watering pots and planters at front of school…new planted troughs looking good especially the violas…

Next did a bit of bramble pruning by the playground plus pulled a few weeds out from bed by boiler house …

NB when we have time huge amount of brambles on this bed need removing ASAP!

After refilling all the bird feeders around the school wildlife area I mixed 5 more tubs of mixed seed,sunflower hearts and suet pellets ready for future work sessions….

Final job of the morning was doing more autumn clearance work this time on the main grass area between the top and lower path…3 large garden bags of green waste added to the composting area in the copse by the wildlife pond.

Left early for home at 10.45 am.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watering,feeding birds,annual autumn clearing…

Thursday 6th September 2018

Arrived school by 8am began work by watering all the planters and pots at the front of school…Rose arrived soon after me to help …

Next to the wildlife area where we did more of the annual autumn clearance of the greenery around the school wildlife area..

2 areas cleared ie near the walnut tree at the bottom of the steps below the shed plus the area by the wildlife pond…all green waste added to compost recycled pallet bins in copse by pond ….

Before leaving for our homes I refilled the bird feeders near the shed and noticeboard.

 

Planting,watering,filling water butts,,moving cut branches and logs etc

Monday September 3rd 2018

Took violas,lilies and osteospernums from home then planted them in new troughs by school front gate…after watering  troughs plus other pots and planters I headed round to the school wildlife area.

Second job of the morning was watering the planted pots near the shed.

Chris arrived to work with me ….he helped chop up and move the smaller pine tree branches and logs left after professional tree work behind our storage shed…logs left neatly behind our storage shed…other stuff transported down to add to a woodpile near bottom of steps…

After our coffee break Chris connected the hose pipe so I could refill the water butts and watering cans …Chris then checked out how many of our access steps need replacing with some of the cherry trunks ie felled earlier in the year.

Meanwhile I cleaned off leaves and bird poo from our outdoor classroom seating and benches..

Realised we’d forgotten to paint the seating and tables with wood protection over the hot and dry summer school holidays…we have some in the shed plus Chris will bring some from home asap

NB Chris will also bring something to fill in the holes in the table tops where woodlice have been chomping and unfortunately caused quite an amount of damage!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Watering,feeding birds,moving tree chippings,pruning buddleijas

Thursday August 30th 2018

Started work by watering pots and planters at front of school …Rose also arrived early so was able to help with 5watering.

Next to the wildlife area …first task there was moving the pile of tree chippings down via wheelbarrow loads to top up the paths ..

Rose filled about 6 barrow loads for me to transport then after a coffee break I filled and moved another dozen or so loads..

NB once again the heap had begun to heat up and decompose in the centre…later same day I realised I must have inhaled dust and fumes resulting in being unwell with wheezy,congested chest .

Whilst I was refilling the bird feeders Rose was busy pruning the dead flower heads of buddleijas plus watering the planted pots by the shed.

 

Moving soil….

Monday August 27th 2018

Bank Holiday however I went up to school to meet visitor who actually didn’t turn up …lost count of number of people since project began in 2004 who have failed to arrive or been late after making arrangements for project site visits!

Whilst waiting I watered the planters and pots at the front of school then just after 8.30am Colin arrived to help …

Next after waiting around at the front of school till after 9am we moved  around the corner (whilst still keeping eye out for missing visitor) for main job of morning ie emptying soil from broken seat planter …

Colin did most of the heavy work of filling old compost bags with soil whilst I transported the bags to the wildlife area…we also filled 2 new plastic troughs with soil …now ready to be filled with plants at the front of school before term starts!

After a coffee break we packed up and headed off for our homes earlier than usual…after all it’s a Bank Holiday!!!