More digging...

On Saturday morning we started digging out 3 new beds, all about the same size. These will be planted with wildlife-friendly shrubs and trees such as berberis, hazel and dog rose.

They are located between the seating by the pond and the tennis courts and have been placed to break up the view of the tennis courts, much like the trees further along the wildlife garden do.

Weather permitting, the beds will be planted in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately we dug out the beds too late to catch the frosts that we had last week which would have broken the soil down nicely, but we'll keep our fingers crossed for a couple more frosts after this wet weather period!

Bats in the park

Over the last few weeks, bats will have been finding places to hibernate over the winter period. Our bat boxes have been installed in the trees for several weeks now, but it is unikely they will be used this winter. It is known that bat boxes often have to be around for several years before they get used.

Maybe our boxes will be used for a summer home one year. Summer is when bats form their maternity roosts, where the bats have their young and these can be returned to year after year.

We may never know if the boxes have been used. It is illegal to disturb bats so, unlike the bird boxes, we will never be cleaning the bat boxes out!