Merrydale, and more new sites

 

Another Saturday up Merrydale. Not quite such nice weather, as you can see from the Philip's and Neil's rainwear. Later on we went and visited some very nice people who would like us to help them plant trees in their  field above Marsden. 

Merrydale once more

There are an awful lot of stakes and guards up Merrydale. Serves us right for planting so many trees. Myself, Philip and Dave this morning, with a box of homemade biscuits. Philip and I left for an hour to go and visit a landowner and discuss some planting next to the M62. Sadly my camera had run out of batteries, so no pictures of today. But trust me, we worked hard and collected around 120 stakes to be reused, and filled a bag of old guards to be disposed of. Another lovely Autumn morning.

More Merrydale

Yet another trip up Merrydale to merrily gather stakes and guards. Just myself, Guy and Dan. Lovely September morning, almost an Indian Summer day. The cake of the day was coconut.

First attempt at propagating Holly

So, this is my first attempt at propagating Holly, which is a relatively expensive tree for us to buy. Collected cuttings of new growth in mid-September. Cut the cuttings quarter inch below a leaf. Trimmed off all but two or three leaves. Wet the base and dipped it in organic rooting compound.  Placed the cutting in a root trainer cell, having first poked a hole with a pencil in the general purpose compost. They will be kept outside on my mum's allotment. 2 hours work, but if they grow it saves us £30. Coming soon... Hawthorn!