Donald and Daffy

As promised, here are the first pictures of our new ducks, Donald and Daffy. They have been with us for two weeks now and are settling into their new home well. Both are male, drake, Muscovy Ducks.
Muscovys are the only domestic duck that is not derived from mallard stock. Their feet are equipped with strong sharp claws for grabbing tree branches and roosting. They do not swim as much as other ducks as their oil glands are under developed, resulting in their tails and wings fraying easier. They are gentle birds, the drakes don't quack, just produce a low hiss.
One of their only drawbacks is they fly well and are good escape artists!
Quote from a web site"The supreme bird with character, males wag their tales and raise crests when talked to. All have a sick sense of humour, a breed worth the time as VERY individual. The nicest character of any of the breeds with a pronounced sense of humour, very intelligent and head of any escape committee!" Should fit in perfectly at Worcester College, Welcome Donald and Daffy.

996

996, that is the number of seedlings that have been pricked out by Lucy and Ali over the last few days, 896 winter bedding plants and 100 perennials. Each seedling has been placed into its own cell which will be its home for the next few months and will be part of this years winter bedding display.

Other news to inform you, is today we have received two new male ducks, both one year olds, but they are a bit shy so I have no picture to show you. They have been named Daffy and Donald, so watch this space.

Seedlings, Yew Columns and Two Snowmen in a Snow Storm

Some of the tasks this week have included the pricking out of the germinated seedlings, cutting the 20 Yew columns in the Provosts Garden and the continuation of the chemical store. The seeds were sown on the 3rd August, see blog "Hold The Front Page", and have now germinated successfully. Each seedling will need to be pricked out into its own cell within a cell tray where it will remain for a few more months.

Lucy and Ali were given the task of hedge cutting the 20 Yew columns. Once finished they started to prick out the seedlings, but, after cutting 20 Yews (Taxus baccata) the shoulders were aching and each tiny seedling felt like a tonne weight.

Graham and Ady continued the painting of the chemical store, a third and fourth coat of white applied to give it the perfect finish. Not sure if their suits were blue when they started and they painted each other as well as the walls!

Tomato Blight

The dread of all tomato growers has arrived at Worcester College in the Pump Quad display pots. It is caused by the fungus Phytophthora infestans and loves to attack tomatoes, potatoes and their relatives in the Solanum species. Brown, rapidly spreading lesions can be found on the leaves and stems, spreading to form patches of rot on the fruit with infected tissues dying rapidly. The warm, wet weather seen in August has been the perfect breeding ground for this fungus. A close eye is being kept on the tomato plants in the display and may have to be removed.

Scattered Showers

What do gardeners do when those menacing dark clouds decide to empty a days rain on them in thirty minutes? RUN!
Ady ran for cover in the tool shed with the leaf blowing machine still attached on his back. Ali ran to stay dry under the arches between the cottages, after safely parking the ride on mower in a dry spot under a tree.

Lucy and Graham ran for protection in the cloisters, downing their tools on their way to the nearest dry point and Josh ran from the Provost's Rose Garden having stashed his mower in a dry corner.

Luckily, Ali had her camera with her so managed to get the photos of the rain drops as they hit the ground and prove just how heavy the rain fall was.

A Change On The Horizon

Since the college was founded, the view from the cloisters has continued to change, most recently, over a four day period, during the week beginning the 10th August.
The Beech tree, thought to be over 100 years old, seen in the centre of the photo above was, after numerous tests, found to have the disease Ustulina deusta, and after consultation, the decision was made to cut it down. The disease found on broadleaved trees, including Beech, causes a soft rot and decays the stem base and/or roots making the area very brittle.


Tree surgeons, Phil, Dave, Eugene and James were called in to remove most of the tree starting with the lower branches.

This view is from the hebaceous border and can be seen late on in the sequence of photographs.

On the second day more of the Beeches canopy was removed as the surgeons worked their way up to the top of the tree.

At the end of day two, most of the right hand side of the canopy
had been removed, leaving the left had side to be cleared on day three.

By the end of day three, the team had successfully removed the canopy and put all the smaller branches through the chipper. All that was left for day four was a rather large trunk to be reduced.

On day four, the left hand side trunk was cut down in one large chunk and cut into pieces from the safety of the ground.

If you compare these next two photos, you will see that the Beech has gone from the horizon and the view from the cloisters and the hebaceous border has changed for ever more.

All that remains, of this once great Beech tree, is the trunk as it stands to remind us of its presence. I wonder what stories of Worcester College it could tell?

Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner

Why are our Horse Chestnut leaves looking so brown, it's not Autumn yet is it? A lot of you have been asking this question and here is the answer.
The damage to the leaves is by the larvae of the Horse Chesnut Leaf Miner Moth, Cameraria ohridella, which like to burrow within the leaves and has been rapidly spreading across the south of the country since it was first seen in the UK in 2002. Severely damaged leaves shrivel and turn brown by late summer and fall early, well before normal leaf fall in autumn.
Despite their poor appearance, there is no evidence that the damage by the moth leads to the decline of the tree, but once infested, the tree will be attacked year after year.