Elizabeth Daryush Garden, Boars Hill - Saturday 21st September 2024

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 Blog by Eleanor, photos by Sally and Eleanor

This Saturday we were at Elizabeth Daryush Garden, Boars Hill. It used to be part of a private garden, which was donated to the Oxford Preservation Trust, and consists of acid grassland, which is comparatively rare in Oxfordshire.

There were eleven Green Gymmers plus three volunteers from OPT and even with this number, we wondered if there would be enough of us to complete the various tasks that needed to be done. It had been raining during the night and was still cloudy, so we were hoping that the weather would be kind to us.

Sally, our leader for the session explained the various tasks, which had been set out by Rod, OPT's consultant ecologist. We needed to cut back bracken and bramble growing among the broom bushes, remove a forsythia which was a garden escape, cut sprouting shoots and overhanging branches from the sweet chestnut, cut back branches from the woodland area, remove sprouting willow from the pond, also remove crassula, a variety of stonecrop, which is invasive and non native, from the pond. There was also plenty of scything of reeds and grass.

Crassula in the pond.




 
Jim scything





Cutting lower branches of sweet chestnut





Cutting back brambles





OPT volunteer with a heap of branches





On the very overgrown pond



We worked very hard and were glad of our tea break. so far, we had only had a very light shower.


Tea break under the sweet chestnut




There was plenty more to do, more reed cutting on the pond and huge piles of reeds to be dragged to the heaps under the trees.

Margaret reed cutting on the pond





A beautiful green and black striped dragonfly, a southern hawker, I think, was flying around the pond all morning. However, it was never still enough to get a photo.

OPT volunteers with a heavy load





A view of Elizabeth Daryush Garden




It was time to finish work and pack up the tools. We were pleased with our morning's work and the heavy rain had held off.

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