It was a shock to hear the sad news at our meeting today that Barry Kaufmann-Wright had died. Barry has spoken to us on many occasions on a wide range of subjects. He was a great character and a very interesting speaker with a vast collection of slides, and his talks were always enjoyed. Many of us have visited his home, admired his lovely garden, then been taken on a visit to the orchid wildflower meadow and onto the little woodland area with its rare plants and badger sets. Audrey has written to Barry's wife on behalf of Gardening Friends to express our condolences. We will all miss him. Please click on Barry Kaumann-Wright in the Categories list and in the Links to other sites on the right hand side of the blog for more about Barry. |
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Barry Kaufmann-Wright's talk today was 'Seasons of a Woodland'. Barry has over 70,000 slides, but fortunately only chose a small selection of those for his talk!
He showed us how the trees, vegetation and wild flowers changed with the seasons and talked about the animals that inhabited the woodlands and the relationships between them and their habitat. We learned that coppicing makes the trees vulnerable to deer which love to eat the young shoots, so pollarding is a better option as the new growth is too high for them to reach. Oak trees featured large and Barry explained that there is a particular moth that lays its eggs in the oak tree. The caterpillars hatch and strip the leaves off the tree, then they in turn are eaten by migrating birds. The oak tree will then grow more leaves but will not bear acorns that year, but it will be immune to further attacks by the moths. Barry's talks are always interesting and very enjoyable - and there were prizes for correctly identifying some woodland plants! A visit to see his protected woodland and orchid fields will be planned for next year. |
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