Jillian Macready writes: We are now in meteorological spring as opposed to astronomical spring which is worked out according to when the equinox falls, and this is more complicated. Meteorological spring on the other hand simply follows the calendar months, so March, April and May are Spring. This is a time of rebirth re-greening and optimism, so it just didn’t feel right, at the end of February 2019, to be experiencing almost high summer temperatures but with no green leaves, flowers or butterflies! What a difference a year makes though; this time in 2018 we were cowering from the Beast from the East or getting the snow sledge out of the garage. For 2019, we are back to something approaching normal and we had welcome rain last week, though perhaps never welcome on the morning of a work party! However, I take my hat off to all those who turned up and that was most of those who said they would, on a rainy Sunday morning to continue the scrub clearance along the Lark path between the Crankles and the Abbey Gardens.
The idea of clearing scrub and taking down some of the trees is to let in the light to the river which becomes shadowed by overhanging trees and clogged up by fallen trunks. Though fallen trees can also stimulate a faster flow when it restricts the area the water has to flow; the faster water has more power and takes the silt and mud downstream with it leaving the gravel bed exposed. This is important for fish spawning, especially river trout which are very loyal to their place of birth and will disappear if the habitat is degraded. Much river restoration has been done so far along stretches of the Lark to try to speed up the water, provide habitat for wildlife and created conditions for fish to thrive.
Dominant species such as stinging nettles and brambles (though good in many ways) have been allowed to take over on the path to the Abbey Gardens.
In 2016 Graham Maynard, a former Abbey Gardens head gardener planted 6 or 8 European White Elms by the confluence of the River Lark and River Linnet, and these were overcome by brambles, having not been touched for some time, so this was another prickly job tackled on Sunday. If the grass verges are managed for conservation and mown at a time good for the plant species rather than when the council has time (or complaints from the residents!), native herbs and wildflowers will be able to make a comeback among the grass and where there are bare patches which expose the natural seedbank. So the work on the bank and path on Sunday would have cleared the way for the seedbank to regenerate.
