These were planted in 1994. Most of Stave Hill is alkaline because of the lime mortar in the rubble used to fill in the wet docks. Over the next 50 to 100 years, the aim is to create an acid area. This happens with needle drop and the addition of Christmas tree mulch. After planting, these trees had to be pruned lopsided to stop them being taken for Christmas trees. They grow slowly and are expensive to replace. Firecrests have been spotted here. Look up and listen for a very high pitched call. Also Jays, with a blue wing flash and a raucous call.
The word for Jay Garrulus glandarius is onomatopoeic in a number of European languages: Catalan - gaic [pron gatch]; French - geai; Portuguese - gaio; Italian - ghiandaia
<) You can see a solitary apple tree that grew from a core Rebeka Clark dropped in a post hole in 1996. Despite being cut down several times, it grew back.
Coppiced hawthorn stump, Central Meadow, February 2017.
Photograph: Ky Lewis