We had our first Summer work day in Dog Kennel Hill Open Space today. Stephen Govier started scything the meadow and we dug out as much of the creeping thistle as we could. If we don’t keep it under control then it will take over the whole meadow! The amazing thing was looking at all of the insects that were living in the long grass of the meadow – in complete contrast to the sterility of the mown “park” grass on the other side of the path. As we scythed, huge plumes of tiny moths flew up out of the grass and in the soil we could see the meadow ants busying themselves. It really brought it home to us how important it is to have different habitats in the park and also how quickly animals move in to colonise them.
We also trimmed the hedges using the electric hedge trimmer, which made the whole job so much easier.
