Scouts Plant for the Future

The first weekend of October was a busy one in Fox Hill Woods: we were delighted to welcome two Scout groups from across Wokingham Borough to assist with our woodland conservation. 1st Woosehill Cubs and 3rd Wokingham Beavers visited on consecutive days at the start of the month and between them planted nearly 300 native bluebell bulbs!

They focused their efforts on two locations around some of our recently coppiced hazels. If you are walking through the woods, you might spot these areas close to the paths where the ground has been freshly dug over or spot a blue paint mark on a tree guard.

Despite the recent rain, the ground was surprisingly hard. Some of the youngsters needed a helping hand from the adults to dig holes three times the height of the bulbs, as recommended for the best growth.

The Beavers wrapped up their session exploring the dens near our Friends meeting place by lantern light. While waiting to be collected after sunset, several of the children saw bats for the first time!

Both the Cubs and Beavers thoroughly enjoyed their time improving the woodland environment, and both groups are already thinking about returning for further woodland volunteering in the future. We greatly appreciate their help with our conservation efforts and will be delighted to welcome them back anytime.

Bluebells take four to five years to reach maturity before they flower. While some of those 300 bulbs may surprise us with flowers next spring, others may need an extra year or two to grow before they bloom.
When you visit the woods next spring remember to watch where you tread and look out for new shoots emerging from the leaf litter in places you have not seen them before!