Welcome to week 18 of our one year pond study, a long-term homeschool nature project that has taken us through changing seasons, shifting habitats, and countless small discoveries. For the rest of the posts in this series, you can browse the full archive, but today’s focus is one of the quiet giants surrounding our pond: the ash tree in the summer.
Find out more! If you’d like to know more about why we decided to do a year long pond study, this is the post for you!
Read More! Last week we learnt all about the variety of pond birds in the UK and the summer pond fauna
A Glorious Summer at the Pond
Our pond looked radiant this week, the water reflecting vibrant greens and bright sky blues. With summer in full swing, we turned our attention back to our chosen tree for the year: the Ash. So much had changed since we first observed it in the spring.
Read More! I thought I’d direct you to our Ash Tree Study which we began right at the start of our pond study and its extension Ash Tree and Lichen
If you look back at our early-season notes, you’ll remember that the Ash was covered in flowers before it grew any leaves.
Click here to read about the animals and plants we have found around our pond
Now, those distinctive spring blossoms have vanished, replaced by an abundance of lush summer foliage.
Read about our very own pond ecosystem as well as our examination of the pond water
Ash Tree in the Summer: From Flowers to Leaves
In spring, the children sketched the tree’s dark buds and curious flowers. Now, comparing those notes with the ash tree in the summer, we noticed the transformation firsthand as the tree displayed full clusters of compound leaves.
To explore the differences up close, we collected a small twig with several leaf clusters and brought it home for inspection. Using our Apologia Botany book and the Junior Nature Guide to Trees, we compared spring and summer growth.
Fancy doing some pond art? Read here for our bark rubbings and leave hammering
The children immediately spotted two growth stages on the twig: the darker wood from last year and the lighter, fresh growth where new leaves had emerged. They were fascinated to see how clearly the tree recorded its own seasonal history in colour and texture.
Ash Tree in the Summer: Discovering Buds, Leaves, and New Growth
A closer look revealed something else: each new leaf had grown from a smooth, black bud. The very same type of bud that once held the spring flowers. This led the children to a thoughtful hypothesis: perhaps the flowers, which unusually appear before the leaves, form the beginnings of those leaves. Though we couldn’t find definitive confirmation, the reasoning sparked great discussion and reinforced the value of observation-based science in our homeschool routine.
Describing Ash Leaves with Botanical Vocabulary
Before bed, the children spent time examining the leaves and recording what they observed. Because the Ash can resemble the Elder tree in leaf shape, we used our field guides to practice precise botanical vocabulary.
The children described the leaves as:
- Opposite
- Pinnate
- Containing about eight pairs of lanceolate leaflets
- Serrated along the margins
- Clearly arranged in a compound structure
Seeing them confidently use terms like pinnate, lanceolate, and serrated margin made the study feel especially successful.
Looking Ahead to Autumn
The Ash has proven to be the perfect tree for our year-long study. It greets each season with something new:
- Flowers in the spring
- Leaves in the summer
- Fruit in the autumn
- Bare branches in the winter
We’re already looking forward to returning in the fall to explore its seeds and seasonal changes.
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