Hannah Worthington: Collecting seeds for the future - and your views on Bay's green spaces

It takes time to get it right but much like the art of stone-skimming, practise makes perfect when it comes to launching a helicopter, writes HANNAH WORTHINGTON, green space engagement officer for SWISCo.

Throw too low and it won’t have enough time to catch and spin, too high and the wind may take it away.

We are, of course, referring to sycamore seeds, known to many as ‘helicopters’ due to the way they rotate as they fall.

It’s getting a bit late in tree seed collecting season, especially as many trees put on an earlier than usual glut after 2022’s summer.

Yet there are still haws, mast, conkers, and more on trees and in hedgerows, with some species hanging on to pods, nuts or seeds a little further into autumn.

At locations across Devon, the Wildlife Trust has been working with volunteers as part of Saving Devon’s Treescapes to establish small tree nurseries, and as proud partners in the project SWISCo have helped establish two micro-nurseries here in Torbay.

Of course, if we want future trees, we need to the seeds to grow them from, so this means it’s not just squirrels seed-gathering a-plenty this season!

Much of the harvest needs processing to ensure each seed’s pre-programmed urge to grow is activated, so collected fruit and nuts are taken to the micro-nurseries to be washed, scraped, bashed, or chilled before the seed can be planted.

And... while we’re on the subject of collecting things – we’d like to collect your views on some of Torbay’s fabulous green spaces.

We all love our parks and hopefully so do you, and we want to hear about what you like most about Babbacombe Downs, Clennon Lakes, St Mary’s Park, Stoodley Knowle, or Tessier Gardens in particular.

Your responses will paint a picture of why people enjoy visiting these spaces, providing information that will help with applying for a Green Flag Award for the sites, an international accreditation managed by Keep Britain Tidy, and given to public parks and open spaces.

For more information about the surveys or getting involved with caring for Torbay’s green spaces, please contact Hannah Worthington by email hannah.worthington@swisco.co.uk or tel. 07747 616 075