Each year we give the wildflower a bit of a trim. This keeps the grass in check and helps the wild flowers to thrive.
The grass has been cut. Now we need to rake up and remove up the cuttings and put them to good use elsewhere. This year we’ll be using them to mulch the new trees in our Miyawaki Forest and Celtic Circle.
It’s a lot of work, but it’s good fun. Our volunteers are a fabulous group of people.
We’ll be working in the wildflower meadow from 10am until about 12. All ages welcome (there’s a job for everyone).
Two dates in July to help rid the Hreod Burna of this invasive species… see below or in our events section for more details.
Last year we did some clearance work along the section of the Hreod Burna that runs through HBUF to remove the Himalayan Balsam. It’s an invasive species that has taken up space usually occupied by native plants along the bank of the burna.
The Wiltshire Wildlife Trust undertook similar clearance work along other parts of the brook.
Himalayan Balsam
Himalayan balsam was introduced as a garden plant in 1839, but soon escaped and became widely naturalised along riverbanks and ditches, especially close to towns. It is fast-growing and spreads quickly, invading wet habitat at the expense of other, native flowers. Its explosive seed pods aid its spread by sending the seeds into the river, causing further dispersal downstream.
Volunteers working with the Trust have recently started to survey Himalayan Balsam along the length of the Hreod Burna Corridor and have confirmed that the work they undertook last year has resulted in a reduction in Balsam. We’ve been out to some of the areas we cleared last year and there is a lot less now than there was back then.
Their survey also indicates that it may be possible to really make a difference along the corridor, and they are hoping to join forces to make sure it is removed along the entire length of the Burna.
HBUF will be organising two sessions where we hope to be joined by other volunteers working with the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust to clear the Balsam from our section of the Burna.
HBUF is all about providing a green space in the Swindon suburbs where people can get closer to nature. We are not a political organisation. But we are all about community. We are all about coming together for the good of all.
When we come here to plant trees or mow the grass or keep the brambles under control we’re not doing it just for us, but for everyone who comes to visit, hundreds, maybe thousands of people, most of them complete strangers out to walk their dogs or take their kids on an adventure.
But our sense of community doesn’t stop at the edge of Gorse Hill or Pinehurst.
On Saturday 28th May, 2022, local people came together to plant sunflowers that they had been growing at home. The sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine.
Some of our volunteers in action
We’ve all been moved by what is happening in Ukraine. We’ve seen the outpouring of support for its people right across the UK. Here in Swindon some people have opened their homes while others like Kate, one of our volunteers, have made them welcome by collecting donations of clothes and other essentials.
A close up of some of our new arrivals
Here at Hreod Burna Urban Forest we may not be able to do any campaigning, but we can bring the community together in a small act of solidarity. And we’re really bloody good at planting things. So when I found out that the sunflower was the national flower of Ukraine this seemed like the obvious thing for us to do.
They’re in!
We couldn’t do any of this without our lovely volunteers, who came together with their sunflowers to create our display. We planted between 150-200 plants. There’s a mix of heritage varieties in there, in a range of colours, shapes and sizes, from Teddy Bears to Velvet Queens, so should be quite a show!
We’ll keep you updated as the sunflowers (we hope!) grow and flower, but feel free to come and admire them in person!
At HBUF we’re not just about trees. Each year the flowers dotted around the forest and in our wildflower meadow bring a bit more colour and beauty into our strolls through the fields and trees.
This year we are doing something a bit special, and we’d like you to be a part of it.
We are hoping to plant a hundred sunflowers, the national flower of Ukraine. As well as being gorgeous, the birds and bees will love them, and they should make a wonderful sight during the summer months.
We want you to help by growing your own seedlings and bringing them to become part of our sunflower garden when are ready to plant-out. We have some simple advice on how to grow them here.
We’ll be planting them on the last Saturday in May, the 28th, at 2pm, in the Miyawaki forest enclosure.
If you are part of a youth or community group, we can help you get started with some seeds and growing materials – all you need to find is some soil and something to plant them in (anything that holds dirt!). Get in touch via our contact page to find out more.
You can get a packet of sunflower seeds from your local garden centre or some supermarkets or online.
There are lots of different varieties. HBUF has a mix of heritage varieties that we’ll be trying, a mix of different shapes and colours (who knew, not all sunflowers are yellow?!)
Sunflower Seeds
Pot them up
Fill a pot with peat-free compost to within 2cm of the top and water well. If you don’t have a flower pot then you can always use another container, so long as you don’t mind getting it dirty.
Place 1 or 2 seeds well apart in the pot but not too near the edge, press gently in and cover with 1cm compost. If you can stick a clear plastic bag over the top, it will be like a mini greenhouse.
If you’re doing this at home with your family, why not use a label or a lolly stick to record the name of the person who planted it?
Find a good spot
Place the pot in a warm light place, out of direct sunlight. This could be a windowsill or any other bright spot. Keep the compost slightly moist, don’t let it dry out!
You should see a shoot within a week or two. If you put a cover over your pot you can take it off now. Rotate the pot once a day to stop the seedlings bending over.
Bring them to HBUF to be a part of our sunflower garden!
A couple of weeks before you’re going to plant your sunflowers out, it’s best to harden them off (get them used to being outdoors). Start taking the pots outside during the day and bringing them back inside at night.
Lookout for the dates and times for our planting-out sessions. You’ll find them here on hbuf.org or on our Facebook page when the dates are finalised (subject to the weather).
Last year HBUF took delivery of the tractor that we have been using to support some of the maintenance activities around the site. We share it with Central Swindon North Parish Council. You may have seen it in action mowing the picnic field and the wildflower meadow. It also has other attachments, like the wood chipper and trailer, that allow us to do a variety of other jobs.
Until now, Steve was the only person with the necessary skills and experience to operate it safely. To share the load, Kate and Andy volunteered to get trained up.
At the beginning of March, Kate and Andy spent two days on a training course run by the John Oldacre Rural Innovation Centre. The centre is part of the the Royal Agricultural University and offers a wide range of training in practical and managerial skills for anyone involved in food production and land management.
The “Tractor Driving – Introduction” doesn’t mess about. After a session on health and safety it was straight out and into the cab. And there’s no little baby tractor to practice on, it was straight into the real thing. Quite daunting when the wheels are bigger than you are!
It’s a little bit bigger than our one!
Reversing the trailer on day one!
The two day course was a real eye-opener into how sophisticated (and complicated!) modern day tractors are. The beasts that they learnt on are a LOT bigger than our little one at HBUF, but the skills and techniques still apply.
After learning how to drive the tractor in the yard it was on to attaching implements like the trailer and mower. Ironically the bigger tractors make that easier, with a lot more adjustment and tweaking possible from the cab than is available with our little one. Not surprising, given how hard it is to make manual adjustments to the bigger bits of kit.
And who would have guessed that they’d be reversing with the trailer on the first day?
Of particular importance for us is the safety aspect in all of this. Learning how to operate the tractor and associated equipment safely for both our volunteers and members of the public is essential at HBUF. One thing that sets us apart from a farmer in their field is the number of passers-by we need to look out for.
Kate and Andy, having mastered the tractor
There was an unintentional age test as part of the course, with a bit of word association. The instructors over the two days were Steve and Austin. Ring any bells?
Depending on your age that might bring to mind a much loved TV show from your childhood or, for younger folk, a star of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). We’ll let you decide who it reminded our pair of.
We had a fantastic turnout for our volunteer session in March! We started off tree planting in our Miyawaki mini-forest, before moving over to give the Tiverton Field a bit of a spring clean.
Below are the happy, smiling, faces of everyone who managed to get in on the tree planting, we had another half a dozen who didn’t make it into the group shot. We put in our 60-something trees and bushes in the first hour of the session, many hands really does make light work. It was great to have some representatives from the local Scouts group joining us this month.
Planting trees puts a smile on your face 🙂
During this session we were planting cherries, plums, currants and gooseberries. These add to the apples, pears, hazel and sweet chestnut that were put in already. And yes, that is what the sky usually looks like when we are working at HBUF 🙂
The team in action
After the planting…
Our snazzy new vests let people know who we are and what we’re up to. They’re also a safety feature if we have people out with the tractor or other potentially hazardous activities like the coppicing.
So if you see Andy out doing some work in the woods you can tell that he’s not just some random bloke, he’s a random bloke in a hi-viz HBUF vest 🙂
We may need to order some in smaller sizes for some of our helpers though…
Hayden modelling our HBUF hi-viz
With so many willing hands the planting was finished in record time and we were able to tackle some other important work. Fly-tipping has been a problem over on the Tiverton field and a lot of rubbish had built up since we mowed and cleared it last year. The group took away several barrow loads of household waste.
We are also hugely grateful to the unsung people who litter-pick around HBUF throughout the week. Many people just take a bag around with them as they walk their dogs or go for a stroll. It’s a sad truth that a small number of selfish people leave so much detritus behind them, but heartening to have so many community-minded folk who help to keep the area nice for all of us.
Litter picking on the Tiverton field
As ever, if you’d like to keep up to date with what we are up to, you can subscribe to our mailing list to get updates once a month, or you can check us out on Facebook.
Note that you can save some typing with our new Web address: www.hbuf.org