Potterton Volunteers

03/10/2026

John, Bernard and Christiane were down at the Community Garden today and spotted this whilst pruning trees.
Nature at her best. We have had all sorts of bugs and beasties and butterflies in the meadow this year.
These little "orbs" on the underside of the Oak leaves are Oak Gall wasp eggs. They cause little to no harm to the tree.
The wasp lays the egg on the leaf and injects a special chemical along side the egg. This encourages the Oak to grow a special plant shell around the growing larvae.
These wasps are tiny and do not sting and are completely non aggressive .

03/10/2026

John, Christiane, and Bernard were at the Potterton Community Garden to do some work on the penultimate session of the season
We:
- Cut down some dead trees
- Clear son of the thick broom at the top end of burn
- Scattered Yellow Rattle seed, we are hoping that if this takes it will suppress the grass growth

19/09/2026

John and Bernard were at the Community Gardens today to do some work
John w**d killed the circular path. Bernard painted the fence on the bridge a Willow colour (Any comments on the colour welcome) We need more paint to complete the job and give it a second coat
We then tidied up the burnside area adjacent to the bridge
Taking away 4 big bags of green waste
Late morning we had a visit from Belhelvie Community Trust (BCT) ( Rosie & Joni ) where we sat round the picnic table and discussed future PV projects, Jenny also attended
PV are grateful to BCT for their ongoing support

07/09/2026

Christiane and Bernard were down at the Community Garden for several hours today doing some Autumn prep.
Clearing around the base of the conifers with a small scythe to help with reducing the height of the meadow.
The hope is the council will mow the meadow this year in October. They have been contacted re their plans . It is too tall for our mower to tackle.
The final strulch on the long bed was laid. Some new plant supports have been added. Strulch was also added to the raised flower beds .
Time was spent along the new bank path, strimming the long grass, cutting back the dead stalks on the flowering plants to tidy them up. Trimming the trees to reduce the spur growth and lift the canopies . Crossing branches and old or broken branches removed to allow for a more open canopy and airflow.
Part of the bank was dug over, grass and roots removed, strulch added and dug in and then Foxgloves, donated by Hilary Foxen planted. As these have already had their first years growth they should hopefully flower next year and add a lovely burst of colour along with the other flowering plants we have along the bank.
We are going to try and sow some yellow rattle seeds again . We will try in the ground that has been dug over for the foxgloves. They require cold to germinate so hopefully with cooler weather coming in this will help germination..Using yellow rattle is a natural way to help combat the thick grass that chokes everything else out and may make management of the bank side a little easier.

01/09/2026

On Monday we added the finishing touches to our path, by compressing the aggregate with a “Wacker” plate
Thanks go to W L Stratton for the loan of the”Wacker” Plate

30/08/2026

A busy week at Potterton Volunteers this week!
On Tuesday Christiane and Bernard went down to tidy up the Flower Bed. It was strimmed, edged and w**ded, before putting down 4 bags of Strulch (Straw Mulch) . We also tidied up the Willow Arbour, with a bit of weaving and a trim on top!

On Sunday we assembled a team to lay the burnside path.
We had John, Neil, Craig, Bernard and Andy Bisset( who kindly offered to help even though he does not stay in Potterton)
We had laid the membrane on Saturday, so it was just a matter of shifting 6 Tonne of aggregate from the car park on to the path!!Armed with 4 wheel barrows we set about the the task, although it was hard work, it went pretty smoothly, and we were really pleased with the result.
All that remains now is to compact the aggregate with a compressor plate.
Thank you to all those that helped, (especially Andy.)
If you live in Potterton and would like to help us, let us know.

16/08/2026

POTTERTON “TENNIS COURT”
The work that Potterton Volunteers carried out on the “tennis court” in Potterton seems to have generated some interest.
We would like to ask everyone what further work you think that we could carry out to make the facility better utilised?. Just add your ideas in the comments below.
Also if you would like to be involved in this and other Potterton Volunteer projects in the village, again just let us know in the comments below

15/08/2026

John, Neil, Craig , Jack and Bernard spent this morning cleaning up the “Tennis Court” in Potterton
This involved clearing all the w**ds that had grown up , then sweeping up all the debris, before spraying w**d killer.
John and Neil also repaired the netting that had come away in places.
Still not set up for tennis as such, but the area will be in better shape to be used as a play area for football etc,

08/08/2026

08/08/2026

Christiane and Bernard were working at the Potterton Community Gardens this morning.
Christiane put Strulch ( Straw Mulch) at the base of the Willow Arbour and also at the flower beds adjacent to Panmure Gardens, but we will need a further 4 bags to complete the job!
Bernard was working on the Potterton burn bank, within the space of 3 weeks the path that we had created had become completely overgrown. It took 3 hours culminating in 2 big bags of waste to clear the path. We need to get the membrane in place with aggregate in place to stop the w**d growth, but to do this we need all four able - bodies to complete the work. IF YOU FANCY HELPING US OUT WITH THIS WORK, LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.
We also cleared the burn of green algae. This strategy of planting trees to block sunlight on the surface of the burn is starting to pay off as the task was a lot easier.
Next week we will spend some time cleaning the old tennis court
We would also like to thank the people at Belhelvie Banter for their kind contribution to our funds after the winding up of the much-loved local publication