Hedge fun management

It was great to welcome Denise for another GoodGym community mission and to catch up with Ana and Vanessa for the first time this year. As we gathered at Cooley's Meadow we were cheerful but far from cool. The sun was beating down and we had worked up a sweat on our journeys to the task. Kudos in particular to Ana and Vanessa for cycling from Maidenhead!

Cooley's Meadow is a nature reserve, owned by the borough but maintained by our task owner Claire Taylor and other volunteers from Wild Eton Wick including Andrew and Laura, who also joined us today. Credit to Claire and the (finally sunny) May weather, this lovely open space was looking gorgeously green and dotted with colourful wildflowers. We all felt lucky to have a reason to be there.

Claire checked we all had suncream and then briefed us on our job for the afternoon: to work our way along the hedge removing plastic covers from the trees planted a few years ago. If the tree was alive we could also remove the stake, giving the tree space and a chance to stand tall on its own. If the tree was dead we should leave the stake to mark the spot so a new tree can be planted there in the Autumn.

We got into a good rhythm and cleared bag after bag of plastic covers and armfuls of stakes. Happy to say we found most of the trees were doing well. Where there was the odd patch of dead saplings Claire explained that it was likely due to that particular species not loving the soil conditions. Claire and the RBWM Countryside Manager Jason Mills are recording which species are struggling so that different species can be trialled next time.

We came to a natural finish after about an hour as the brambles, nettles and heat all got higher and became too much to battle. Still, we felt satisfied we had made a difference and had a decent workout too. Well done team!