Wednesday 21st January 2026 - All Saints Church, Freshwater GG #1064

 Terry's photos

Enjoying the hospitality on offer

Julie wringing out her gloves!

Alison's photo

Fungus on dead wood 

The GG team was reduced in numbers this week due possibly to the weather which was awful!  It rained and rained!  For those of us driving across the Island, just getting there was a challenge with all the road closures, temporary traffic lights and flooding…..

However….. we returned to this lovely churchyard to help Jill, the Churchwarden of All Saints, Freshwater, with bramble management.  We worked on this patch of bramble a year ago and were asked to cut back all the regrowth so that any spring bulbs (primarily snowdrops) would get the required amount of light.  The churchyard has a wonderful show of spring bulbs and already snowdrops and narcissi are showing.  All cut material was transferred to the bonfire site.

See link for further information - The All Saints Church Yard | All Saints and St Agnes

Thank you to Jill for the refreshments at break time and to Terry for the photos.

Wednesday 14th January 2026 - Los Altos Park, Sandown GG #1063

 Terry's photos

Moving compost to the planting hole

The briefing

Preparing the base of the hole

Sprinkling in the water retaining granules

Checking the level of the root ball

Backfilling

Tamping down the soil

Applying the mycorrhizal funghi to the roots

Putting in the perforated watering pipe

and adjusting it.....

More backfilling

Is it straight?

The final backfill

Completed with stakes, tie and woodchip (this is the Sequoia)

We headed to the Bay area today – Los Altos Park in Sandown.  We last visited this site in March 2025.  We were working with Tony, the IWC Tree Officer, who maintains this lovely site, to plant seven standard trees.  This doesn’t seem like very many for 20 people to plant within 3 hours…….  However, the amount of work that went into the planting of each tree was considerable.  Terry’s excellent photos show the majority of the stages.

Firstly, the planting holes had to be dug to specific dimensions.  A few had been prepared for us; one had to be re-dug as the original had flooded and the remainder dug by the GG team.  The base of the holes was then covered with a mix of compost and soil and the level checked so that the tree would be at the correct depth in the hole.  Water retaining granules were scattered throughout the soil/compost mix.  The trees (in 45l bags) were manoeuvred into place and the bags removed.  A perforated watering pipe was placed around the root ball with 20cm vertical above ground level.  Mycorrhizal funghi was applied to the root ball and then the holes backfilled.  A fleece weed mat was put around the trunk of the tree.  Tony and colleague David then added a ‘doughnut’ of woodchip and carefully positioned three stakes around each tree and tied them in.  In due course, a protective wire fence will be erected around each tree. 

The trees planted were four oaks (two varieties), an alder, a liquidambar and a sequoia.  In the coming weeks we will be continuing with tree planting in the Bay area as this is one of the most tree depleted areas on the Island.

For further information about Los Altos Park see link - Sandown Parks & Open Spaces | Enjoy Nature, Trails & Play Areas

****************************

RIP

Derek Comper

March 2010

September 2013 - our 500th GG and 10th anniversary

May 2023 during a visit whilst we were working at the Riverside Centre

Derek was one of our long-standing GG-ers and contributed a considerable amount of time and energy to the group over the years.  He was a popular member of Green Gym and will be fondly remembered.  

Wednesday 7th January 2026 - Munsley Bog, Godshill GG #1062

 Terry's photos

Mark's photos

Mark's photos highlight the beautiful blue sky and sunshine!

Happy New Year!

For our first session this year we returned to Munsley Bog, in Godshill.  This site is managed by Gift to Nature.  Today we were helping Danny and Jon, the rangers, with their winter management.  The grasses, reeds and bracken had been cut as had some willow.  The willow was stacked into a dead hedge along the boundaries.  We then raked up the cut material and piled it onto the dead hedge.  It was a great start to the New Year, and although there was a nippy wind we enjoyed the sunshine.

Wednesday 17th December 2025 - Shide Quarry, Newport GG #1061

 Alison's photos

Mark's photos

Today was our last GG session of 2025.  As is our custom, we were in Shide Quarry helping the Gift to Nature rangers with their management of this site.  On this occasion we were asked to cut back the cotoneaster or, for those with a bit more muscle, to dig out the roots.  Cotoneaster is a non-native invasive species that has spread easily throughout the quarry which has a SSSI status.  The plants that were cut back will, of course, produce new growth in the spring.  This will then be treated by a herbicide.

After our efforts in Shide Quarry, we went off to PC’s Café, in Watergate Lane for our Christmas meal.  Many thanks to Tracey for all her organisation.

Finally, a big thank you to Mark for all his hard work in managing our group this year; to Terry for his photos for the blog; and of course, to Team GG for all the hard work achieved this year!

Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!