Dave, Chris, Rita and Alan in the cemetery today (2 June 2024). The weather was sunny and hot, so hot that they had to work in the shade.
It was decided their first job was to cut back the trees at the top of the cemetery next to Jam Factory Lane where the dumpy bags are kept. The branches had dropped so low they were meeting the stinging nettles going up.
Alan cut the branches that were too thick for the clippers, the other members of the team were cutting up and filling up the dumpy bags. Work went quicker than expected and they now have a lovely view overlooking the whole of the cemetery.
It was sad to see that one of our new trees had been vandalised and had been broken off 2ft above the ground so no hope of saving it. Unfortunately some undesirables have been seen visiting the cemetery but the neighbours have informed the police.
Moving on the team moved to the other end of the cemetery by the Pantomime wall where four trees were cleared from saplings and ivy last year had got overgrown again. The team worked well and managed to fill another two dumpy bags. Just one more tree to be sorted.
Chris checked the state of the buddleia plants that Roy Cheek planted a while ago, not good news as only 4 or 5 have survived. Next week we will protect these to give them a better chance of survival (we were warned that the survival rate was not that good).
A lady came in and asked if we would like a Cotoneaster plant, we thought this would grow nicely against the fence near our wild flower area so accepted her offer.
Astrid has been discharged from hospital and beginning her recovery at home but will be unable to help out for quite a while