Sometimes things conspire for the best… Wet land and water-loving trees. We had decided to plant 200 black poplars at the Trust’s field at Ballabeg. Why black poplars? Well, they are under threat. According to the The Forestry Commission, it is the most endangered timber tree in Britain. It has suffered from the lack of wetland areas, which have been progressively been drained over the last few hundred years. There may be fewer than 7,000 mature black poplars left in the UK.
Sunday January 11 saw us planting 150 young trees at two new houses just outside Ballasalla. Again we somehow escaped any rain, though the 12 of us planters were battered by the winter’s seemingly unending super strong winds!