With the hot and dry conditions, growth of most of the roadside vegetation - including the weeds - has been limited but the gutter along Bickleigh Vale Rd needed clearing of gravel in (optomistic) preparation for the next heavy rain.

Whilst all the road construction work was going on, a small party worked on our two other  items:

• Outside Hurst at the Pembroke Rd entrance to Bickleigh Vale Rd, the cotoneasters need to be pruned back to let light through to the amelanchiers underneath
  
• The euphorbia outside Mistover needs to be dead-headed so that it will flower well next season and to restrict the spread of seeds.

And then it was over to the Sonningfield carport for morning tea!

In November last year, we identified that the Red Oak (Quercus rubra) at the Pembroke Road entrance to Bickleigh Vale Rd outside Hurst, was looking very unwell and we've sought advice as what to do to help it survive.

There is a lot of growth from other plants around it for possums the gain access. so we thought that, perhaps we could clear surrounding plants to stop the possums flight path to the tree.  There is no power line access to the Oak tree for possums which is one positive.

Our community has rallied around and are implementing the following plan:

• Peter has dug a trench around the sick Oak  and Claire from Hurst has put the hose into the trench and happy to deep water it weekly for the rest of this dry period.
  
• There is an abelia and a cotoneaster surrounding the Oak which Claire will also prune back gradually when the weather breaks and the plants are under less stress. If she needs help Claire will organise Peter to help with the height etc. 
  
• When the arborist used by a few of our residents is  here to work on Sonningfield our trees, Coral will organise a possum collar for the oak tree. 

 Let's see how it goes over the next year or so.

A dead Red Oak in Bickleigh Vale Rd and Golden Rain Wattle in Edna Walling Lane were earmarked for removal during last November's working bee and the Shire's contractor came today to remove them.

To our surprise, when the contactor had packed up and gone, we found the trees with their tops removed but the dead trunks and roots still in place. We'll have a chat with the Shire and find out why!

It was a busy working bee today with potholes filled, gutters cleaned out and culverts unblocked. As usual for this time of year, there was plenty of weeding and pruning - especially at the Pembroke Rd entrance. (Must get that sign straightened though... )

Two trees were replanted to replace dead and dangerous trees removed last May.

At the Pembroke Road entrance to Bickleigh Vale Rd outside Hurst, the Red Oak (Quercus rubra) is looking very unwell. After it's winter hibernation, there are leaves on the bottom half but the top half is bare. Perhaps it's getting attacked by possums or perhaps the dry winter has affected it - we're not sure and are seeking expert advise as to what's the best thing we can do to help it thrive again.

A beautiful day for us and, surprisingly, there wasn't much work needed this time - mostly road maintence. A team of enthusiastic labourers aged from 5-y-o to 65-y-o, shovelled into a trailer, gravel that had been washed from the road into the gutter. This was also time to drag out our custom made "spikey pole thing", which lives on the roof of Maryann's shed, and clear the gravel and roots out from he culvert under Downderry's drive.

Next, we carted it all down to the turning circle where the gravel was a bit light-on. There an even bigger team emptied the trailer and spread the gravel around. Looks pretty good!

Whilst it was mainly road maintenance, Carole and Chris got stuck into some serious pruning of undergrowth outside The Spinney whilst Allan and Peter had another crack at tidying up the stumps in the Edna Walling Lane triangle. End result - looks good too!

We all finished off at The Barn for morning tea and a chat in the sun - what a great morning

In August 2016 a number of trees and shrubs were planted to replace plants lost over the previous few years including a Stone Pine to replace the lost Bishop's Pine. The pine was planted outside Hurst and close to Pembroke Rd in place of the orginal tree and has been growing slowly but was overshadowed by nearby trees and bushy shrubs and, in addition, had been uprooted at one stage.
With the removal of the dangerous radiata pine in May 2018, the Stone Pine was transplanted to the open space created in the hope that it will survive and thrive in its new location.

Following the inspection and assessment by the Shire back in March, three of our larger trees had to be felled and their stumps ground into mulch The large radiata pine outside Hurst has left a hole in the streetscape but the Swamp Gum outside Wimborne and the Wattle in Edna Walling Lane much less so.

Replenishment of the community mulch pile and plenty of firewood for the village... once a few of us chainsaw it up and split it. Could take a while to clean up Devon Cottage's drive!

An army of rakers to clear the road and gutter of autumn leaves today. Potholes filled with the gravel from the gutter too and all along the roadside was weeded. Judicial pruning to keep roadside visibility. It looks great - amazing what a couple of week's of wet weather can do to bring it all back after the dry summer and early autumn! Finished up with morning tea in the warm sunshine at The Barn.

We recently noticed two of our larger trees in Bickleigh Vale Road  - the pine outside Hurst and the gum outside Wimborne - had big cracks in them and could present a danger to passers by and properties so these were referred to the Shire for assessment along with the dead wattle in Edna Walling Lane. The arborist's report confirmed our fears and the trees need to be removed.

So - these are the "before" photos...