PPAA are very pleased to see that the long-awaited anti-climb measures to the SE gate should be completed today. Thanks go to D&S Fabrications, who will probably also be consulted about modifications to the other gate to make key access more convenient.
Wildlife Habitat Enhancement
PPAA volunteers are finally nearing completion of the removal or control of the myriad sycamore saplings and suchlike growing around the site, which constantly threatened to create serious shading problems owing to their extremely rapid growth and dense shade, as well as imposing a very heavy maintenance burden with the need for constant lopping and pruning.
The opportunity now exists to replace some of these – in suitable locations such as car park verges and banks – with low maintenance and far friendlier subjects, e.g. elder, and other small flowering, fruiting trees and shrubs. Unlike sycamore, these would provide food for wildlife as well as nesting places. However, we must be mindful of Provision Seven of our Tenancy Agreements, along with the Local Management Agreement, which make clear that no broadleaf, conifer, or willow trees must be planted on site, either on plots, or anywhere else.
As a happy coincidence, PPAA have also received a request from its organisers to publicise the following gathering (not to be confused with RCG’s Open Day, which is on Saturday, March 2nd):
Create a buzz on your allotment
Join us for a fabulous wildlife friendly workshop to get your plot teeming with life
Meet at the Community Garden on Pontcanna Permanent Alllotments, Saturday, March 9, 10am
Nature is struggling, and the pollinators we depend on to keep our allotments thriving, are in freefall.
Fortunately, we can all make a difference by growing a few wildlife-friendly plants among our veggies – creating buzz and birdsong as we do so
Join Emma Morgan, biodiversity officer at Cardiff Council, for some fantastic tips on how you can garden for nature – giving bumblebees, butterflies, songbirds and hedgehogs a much-needed helping hand as you garden
PPA Website Team
Pontcanna Permanent Allotments 
Great news all around. Thank you very much as always for the wonderful work done by the committee members and the fabulous volunteers. I’m very appreciative of everything that’s done to maintain this as an orderly and pleasant site.
Really great event opportunity too with Emma Morgan. Hope to make it.
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For the edges – I’d like to promote the planting of hawthorn and Rowan trees – wonderful flowers for insects and fruit for birds.
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Thanks for your reply Jane. However, those trees that you mention are broadleaves, and so their planting as free-growing trees is expressly prohibited by both our tenancy agreements and the Local Management Agreement.
In any case, there’s a row of mature hawthorns some 300m long by the spine road, another row planted by enthusiasts along the entire southern boundary, several mature legacy ones on plots, and whips, which are maturing nicely in the spine hedge, so we’re quite well served for those, wouldn’t you agree?
To keep the site in a maintainable position and not cause shading problems, it’s important that the plantings are slow growing, e.g. sloe, holly etc., or attain only modest final height e.g. elder.
The possible purchase of suitable young trees will be raIsed as an agenda item at Committee meeting, and perhaps volunteers will step forward to plant them?
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