After a jolly Heslington Parkrun together we made our way up the hill to the not so Tiny Forest. Exclamations were made at how much it has grown despite the drought. All those bags of compost hauled & mulch strewn were evidently beneficial. Way to go all you York GGers. We quickly set to our tasks. Nick performed the key duty of setting up the picnic area. David rescued smaller trees from beneath the vigorous dog roses. Babs, Laura & Leanne got straight into the thick of it, crouching & tunnelling between the trees & thorns to weed. Nick spotted a woodpecker & beautiful blue butterfly before planting a honeysuckle to ramble over & disguise the compost area. Our tiny forest is looking verdant and coping with the dry spell, some areas are getting so dense that the trees are now suppressing the weeds. This type of forest usually takes about 3 years to become self sufficient - we are 18 months since planting & it's looking fantastic thanks to all our efforts. We ended with the obligatory coffee, picnic & catch up before heading our separate ways.

On the hottest day of the year, only mad dogs & Good Gymers would make their way up to Kimberlow Hill to Good GYm York's very own Tiny Forest. Although the Tiny Forest is growing amazingly fast, it is only 16 months old and the trees aren't able to provide us with shade just yet - luckily we have a selection of lovely hats and a parasol over the picnic area. Some of us carried on weeding, this is much easier now the whole area is mulched. Others dug over the compost heap, watered the 'back up' trees & cut back the dog roses which are doing so well they are at risk of swallowing some of the smaller trees. A variety of new insects & wild flowers were spotted, unfortunately one big blood sucking beast - yet to be identified took a liking to Becca. All in all a lovely relaxing morning caring for the forest followed by refreshments & chatter.

Three Goodgymers and Micky met on a sunny Friday for some gentle weeding and to top up the bathwater in our wildlife ponds.

Our tiny forest is looking lovely and green at the moment so all that compost we hefted is clearly working its magic!

Along with Ian from Treemendous, and Miki, Becca, Alistair and I finished off the weeding between the trees, which are looking beautiful, leafy and tall. One of them is even taller than me! We also took turns to level some of the lumpy ground from various excavations to make the path around the forest easier to use. Finally, some of our dogwood is already big enough to need a bit of pruning, to level the growing field with the other, slower growing trees.

Fabulous Good Friday fun at the Tiny Forest as the remarkable Yorkie GoodGymers descended en masse to tend the trees. The saplings have reached their first anniversary and are looking good. Buds have unravelled revealing fresh lush leaves. Wildlife is moving in & today's spots included frog, mouse, kestrel & pretty iridescent bugs. After some light weeding, mulching, mound moving & trough filling the chatter & banter continued around the picnic table. Wonderful work everyone tending tiny trees for the future.

After delivering my gift of compost and a Christmas tree, I joined birthday boy Al, Claire and Miki who were already hard at work weeding. Claire was using her amazing claw fingers to scrape away the weeds like a green-fingered cat! Great progress was made and the forest is looking beautiful in the sunshine.

We then sat down to a cuppa and a slice of plum-upside-down birthday cake (thanks Claire!) and a chat about aliens, before heading off to enjoy our days.