 So it's spring and as you can see things are a little different the jubilee plum is Sprouting and we've taken the top off. We're doing some formative pruning because we want to shape the tree and There's a bit more going on behind this as well Which we planted the rhubarb and all of the primulas came up with their own accord So what we're going to do now because the grass is starting to grow. We're going to Mulch around the tree to support the tree now the tree obviously it looks quite big and you think well Why does the tree need help compared to the grass but grass has been here a long time and what's important about the grass is it shapes? What's going on in the soil so it shapes the the life in the soil and Trees are further down the the line of succession They like a particular kind of nitrogen in particular. They like to live with fungal species Whereas grasses tend to be a bit further the other way and they prefer more bacterial partners and so The grass is basically creating the the nice kind of conditions for grass and the tree Doesn't particularly find it easy to establish itself initially eventually when the tree gets going It'll have no problem with the grass But at this stage we want to give the tree some help by suppressing the grass around the tree So we're going to do that very simply using some cardboard and Whatever you've got hold of so for us We have we're close to the sea and we go to the beach to walk and we pick up seaweed And we bring it back with us in large quantities and we've been mulching around all our fruit trees with this And this is the last one So we're going to will you see we but you might have woodchip or something else Could use stones perhaps essentially what we need to do is to stop the cardboard from blowing away and So the cardboard is there to Exclude light allow some moisture through now This cardboard isn't particularly thick if I was making a Bed to grow vegetables in put compost on top then I would be using chunkier thicker cardboard because I wanted to last longer Whereas in this case, this is really just a relatively short-term Strategy so I'm quite happy with thinner cardboard actually want some of the moisture to get through it and to get to the roots of the tree Essentially what we're doing here is the trees growing in the soil and if I was making a mulch bed the plants are growing on top of the cardboard So We want to get rid of any tape Because we certainly don't want this floating around as you can see we've taken most of this off already but get rid of the rough there any remaining tape and It's worth mentioning also we talked a little bit about my carizal partners before and What we did earlier was to plant this Allium it's an onion family perennial onions. You're looking for so that includes things like chives and garlic chives and so on I Got these basically were bullbills so some onions make flowers and then they make these little bullbills like a Like a tiny clove of garlic if you like on the top of the head and then Essentially it gets heavier and it falls over and it roots and it makes another plant So you can take those bullbills put them in the soil and they grow into more plants and we had lots from our Perennial alliums last year, so I just took a whole load of those and put them into pots in the greenhouse over the winter and They grown this looks a little bit scraggie because it's been hardened off But as you can see it's got roots and most importantly it's been grown with my carizal Inoculant it's got a fungal partner So when we're planting a bear root tree that's going to be struggling It's good if you can plant something. It already has a my carizal partner that would Feed it because what the allium is doing is giving it sugars and That feeds the fungus that allows it to go and do its thing And then when we put the tree in or we plant the fungus with the allium and fungus with the tree is the Fungus can just go straight off and find the roots of the tree So that's the best way to do it, but it requires a bit of planning obviously so I've just bought these here by way of example. We've already done that so today all we need to do is to Get our cardboard and doesn't need to be a big bit of cardboard. We are obviously we're going to mow around here anyway To manage the grass, but we're going to cut this cardboard in half Put a bit of seaweed in perhaps not all of this just enough to weigh it down and to mulch it Seaweed is interesting in that it When it's moist you pick it up off the beach. It's going to be quite big But after a while and after a fairly short period of time It shrinks and it becomes less to it and less and then it rains and it expands again So we'll put on a bit moldy you might expect Ultimately when the cardboard rots the seaweed will rot down as well and it will feed the tree Which is what we're trying to do and at some point will probably have to do this again And that's absolutely fine. So Okay, we'll get on with that Jules has to remember the water so ideally Tear this in half and do half on either side. Oh It's that kind of cardboard that doesn't want to tear in half in a straight line. So Yeah, let's tear it You might want to soak this first But actually what we want to do is to tear it so it goes around the tree and around the allium And then we'll put some water on it, but that will help weigh it down and soften it up It has been raining today, but it wouldn't hurt to give that a good drenching You can see we've already been putting down some grass cuttings as a beginning to help We've had quite a dry spring after a very wet winter and so Overlap these but actually there's a little cookie flour in there Which is very nice, so I'm going to Just work around that Okay There we are. How about that? So this cookie flour is an indicator of wet landscapes, landscapes that get quite moist And we noticed that since we did this original video when we had lots of heavy rain water actually came out of the bottom of the wall In like a spring and this whole lawn was quite wet and I think it was draining down into this place here because we dug a hole There we are. Okay, and that's Exactly why we need to weigh it down so I'm just going to take the corners off So it doesn't stick out quite so much Okay, if you want to start mulching that side and I'll Do these corners Let's get a bit of seaweed on We're washing up gloves Seaweed can be a bit slimy Seaweed is pretty slimy, can be slimy And our garden then smells like the beach I guess Which is okay by me Okay Do you want to Switch that under your bit over there which has got Oh, yes, of course So I'm just tucking that under that join there to fill that in a bit and see if weight And evidently you don't need to wash it first No, apparently not It is not a problem for the soil So we're just going to keep it away from the tree itself So a little bit of space in there, we might see a little bit of cardboard That doesn't really matter when that's wet, so it will be less obvious and yeah, lovely and yeah Tuck up our cuckoo flower Feels like we're tucking them up in bed Which we sort of are Yeah, or beech stones Some of this seaweed is utterly beautiful There's colours in here So Lovely So And it's as simple as that really Just basically suppressing the grass Giving the tree a chance to get going Woodship is particularly good because it often has fungus in it And it starts, what you want it to do really is create a tiny little woodland Around the tree And eventually we'll be planting a few other little plants To create what's called a guild Around this tree And we started with the pollinator attractor And there are other things that we might want to put in here Like nitrogen fixers And mineral accumulators and so on But for now The main purpose of this is to Reduce the competition for the grass And to help keep the moisture in the soil To protect the tree from drying out So Now we're going to give this a really good soaking And the water will trickle down through The seaweed And soak the cardboard We're using a couple of cans here Don't be stingy with the water This is going to Soak the cardboard And eventually it will break down And that's fine And of course we'll be watering this tree As well Which we can do in the centre in the meantime But this will help keep the tree From drying out In the warm weather And yeah that's essentially it We're just going to leave it Well leave it to get on with it But actually we'll be here every day Keeping a good close eye on it But now hopefully It should just look after itself