Ashlawn Cutting – Early Spring Update

A lot of the work undertaken in recent weeks has focused on improving the woodland edges. This has been a mix of coppicing, laying new live hedge rows, putting cut material into dead hedges and complete tree removal (especially sycamore).

The end result is that the woodland edge can develop the all important understory of wild flowers. One of the most noticeable at this time of year are violets. They are an important nectar source in spring and provide the secondary benefit of being a foodplant for the caterpillars of butterflies of the Fritillary family. Violets are all too easily lost if these margins to the woodland are not maintained

The pictures show some of the improvement that has taken place on the north side of Ashlawn Bridge

The next set of pictures shows where early spring flowers are emerging and thriving in areas that have previously been cleared. Also shown are the line of willows that run alongside of the old station platform. These trees are regularly pollarded or coppiced, resulting in a lot of fresh flowering growth. A little bit of the fauna enjoying the benefits are also included.