Nature Spring delights
Carpets of spring-flowering bulbs are an exhilarating sight and this year at the Botanic Garden, we hope to see for the first time the results of a year-long project to encircle the original 1846 Garden with a spectacular show of spring bulbs. The move of the Botanic Garden from a small city centre site to its current 40 acre site was achieved through the energies of John Stevens Henslow, Professor of both Botany and Geology, teacher and mentor of Charles Darwin. Despite Henslow’s best efforts, the University sanctioned the planting up of only the western half of the site, which opened to the public in 1846. A winding peripheral path encloses a great variety of plantings and is flanked by an excellent tree collection, laid out in family groupings. This established tree cover provides the perfect light woodland conditions for establishing our beautiful new bulb belt. The first phase of the project was completed in March last year when Friends of Cambridge University Botanic Garden helped plant 5000 in-the-green snowdrops. Large-flowered Galanthus elwesii and Galanthus ‘S Arnott’ were planted in drifts, giving way to the simple, single-flowered Galanthus nivalis under the Hazel and Birch collections, now festooned with catkins. These combine beautifully with bright yellow winter aconites (Eranthis hyemalis) and pastel-coloured early Crocus. continued on page 30
River Mel Restoration Group The bad weather this winter has kept us out of the river on several occasions, as well as causing us to postpone our planned River Care Community Litter Pick at the end of November. However, we have not been idle, as we have been able to carry out some bank side work that had been recommended by the Ecology Officer and approved by the Parish Council. We have coppiced some bank side hawthorns along a short stretch of the river along the woodland path between the Recreation Field and the A10 bridge. This particular short stretch is favoured by water voles, therefore we have used the cut branches to create a dead hedge. This hedge serves a dual purpose; the first is to protect the bank from erosion and second to give water voles some protection from predators. The coppicing will rejuvenate the hawthorns,
Photo by Marcus Harpur
so prolonging their lives as well as providing more light which will enable the adjacent larger trees to flourish. In January we celebrated the second anniversary of the start of our project in Melbourn. The two years seem to have passed very quickly and we have achieved a significant amount of work thanks to our volunteers and the support that we receive from the community. Even so we were surprised and delighted when we were presented with a Community Service Award by the Melbourn Parish Council in December. We hope that all of you that have supported us in anyway feel able to share in this award.
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