The 'Friends of Hampshire Farm Meadows' group had a working party on the 27th of April. Their volunteers helped the EVMA mulch the trees that were planted in December.

Only a select few of the volunteers were available that morning. This of course meant more coffee and biscuits for the workers, however they will have to finish off the job at the next work party which is on Saturday 25th of May.

Now that spring is well and truly underway, many of the trees have come out in leaf, and are looking rather splendid.

Volunteers loading up with mulch.

A freshly mulched tree.

The arboretum appears very yellow at the moment with all the buttercups flowering. They like damp soil, and it has certainly been damp this winter and spring.

Toona sinensis (Chinese Mahogany) looks like a palm at the moment with just one whorl of leaves at the top, but it is not a palm and will change shape with time.

The Tulip Trees are looking good at the moment. Their leaves have a lovely shape.

This is a recently planted Hungarian Oak (Quercus frainetto) and it is looking very healthy at the moment.

The leaves on the Ginkgo tree are very small and a bit sparse at the moment. It should properly get going in a year or so. This tree is a living fossil dating back to the Jurassic period, so I suppose that it is in no hurry to grow.

Black Poplar is a native species that inhabit flood plains and wet ditches, they are becoming very scarce nowadays. They are thriving here in the damp soil though, and this one has shot up about a foot already and is peaking out of its protective collar.

The Katsura trees have both autumn and spring colour. In spring the first flush of heart shaped leaves are a shrimp pink colour, but they are susceptible to late frosts, which is why some of the earlier leaves are looking a bit shrivelled.