(3 hrs) Friday 15 March 2024 Hedge planting again

Another invitation extended to all the Beechbrae volunteers to plant some more mixed hedge, but not so many takers, due to a raw, rainy day. However, 5 of us used teamwork to make the dream work, and spent two hours planting a variety of mixed trees - downy birch, birch, hazel, crab apple, hawthorn and more - among the more established trees, supervised as always by a friendly robin on the lookout for tidbits. I got a closeup look at the different varieties of lichens on the trees, which include bearded lichens (Usnea), Evernea (like tiny trees raised up) and a more 'scaly' one I'm not sure of, but I think it's Parmelia, all of which are nitrogen-sensitive or intermediate, suggesting that the air up at Beechbrae is quite clean (see reference guide : https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/research-centres-and-groups/opal/AIR-4pp-chart.pdf). Thing I learned - lichens are sort-of similar to fungi and algae, but in fact a symbiote of both - the fungus provides the body to protect the alga, and the alga draws nourishment from the air and the rain using sunlight. They don't harm host trees, but can indicate that a tree is under stress, or is not producing particularly dense leaf cover. I'm mildly obsessed now - identifying lichens is hard, and now I know to look closely, I bet there are a lot more than 3 kinds at Beechbrae! Pictured - Usnea (top), parmelia (left) and evernea (right).