CONSERVATIONISTS say coppicing work will keep nearby oak trees healthier and ensure a more beautiful carpet of bluebells in a West Swindon wood.
Volunteers from the West Swindon Flowers and Butterflies group have partially cut down a dozen ash trees in the park behind Shaw Ridge.
Organiser John Ball said the work, known as coppicing, will help the wood in the long-run.
“Those ash trees are growing next to some magnificent oaks,” he said. “This gives them space to become even more magnificent.”
By clearing space for light to get to the floor of the copse, the work could also help bluebells planted in the wood 20 years ago to bloom better.
John said: "The more sunlight bluebells get the more beautiful they are."
The Swindon Flowers and Butterflies group was set up 22 years ago to promote flora and fauna in the town.
Its ambition is to turn Swindon into the butterfly capital of Europe by creating corridors of wildflowers
For more, visit the group’s website: www.fabswindon.org.uk.
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