Weeding out the Sitka Spruce – these were big examples of what was pulled up.

Having a breather after working to pull up Sitka.

“Do something for wildness and make the mountains glad.” John Muir, 1892

Although there are no mountains in Sanquhar Woods, the pupils of P5 and P6 carried out some important conservation work and made the woodlands glad over the last two days. After consulting with the Forres Community Woodland Trust team it was agreed that in order to help improve biodiversity in the forest it was necessary to weed out a tree called the Sitka Spruce. This non-native tree tends to take over and colonise the forest. Armed with old gloves and wearing outdoor clothes the children set to work. By the end of the afternoon they were able to differentiate the Sitka from the Scots Pine, the Silver Birch and the gorse. Lots of small Sitka were pulled out of the ground and were left in large piles to decompose. After the work they played a game in the shade of a big tree called ‘Let the wind blow if….’ Well done Applegrove conservationists!