This
year we are busy with a range of tasks, for general
forestry management throughout the 80 hectares of
woodland, and for improving public access.
Some of the paths (or rides as they are known in forestry terms) have become very narrow, dark and overgrown by hedge species on one side and trees on the other. While it is nice to have shady tunnels in places, some of the rides have become worn, muddy or nearly impassable. We are targeting stretches of ride we feel most urgently need attention. There is usually overgrown Blackthorn, Hawthorn and bramble to be dealt with making it hot, scratchy work. Wider rides receive more sunlight, which will encourage butterflies and other species of plants to grow.
The track around the pond is due for some work too. It becomes very muddy in wet weather, so some stone will be laid, taking care to avoid damaging the yellow Iris at the Southern end. Goat Willow will also be felled, again to allow in more sunlight.
We have been high pruning the very best formed oak trees. This will improve the timber quality of these trees if they are eventually felled – in about seventy years time!
This coming winter we will be thinning stands of Ash, Larch and Lime. This means felling the trees that are poorly formed (i.e. forked, or scruffy) to allow the better trees space to grow on. The timber we extract from this operation is processed for firewood, most of it through our Bilke log- processing machine, driven by the PTO of a tractor.
Due to control by humane trapping and possibly the hard winter we have had, we haven’t sighted many grey squirrels recently. This is good news for species of tree such as Larch, Beech, Oak and Chestnut that can be damaged or killed by the squirrels practice of bark stripping, and for our native wildlife with which they compete.
Some of the paths (or rides as they are known in forestry terms) have become very narrow, dark and overgrown by hedge species on one side and trees on the other. While it is nice to have shady tunnels in places, some of the rides have become worn, muddy or nearly impassable. We are targeting stretches of ride we feel most urgently need attention. There is usually overgrown Blackthorn, Hawthorn and bramble to be dealt with making it hot, scratchy work. Wider rides receive more sunlight, which will encourage butterflies and other species of plants to grow.
The track around the pond is due for some work too. It becomes very muddy in wet weather, so some stone will be laid, taking care to avoid damaging the yellow Iris at the Southern end. Goat Willow will also be felled, again to allow in more sunlight.
We have been high pruning the very best formed oak trees. This will improve the timber quality of these trees if they are eventually felled – in about seventy years time!
This coming winter we will be thinning stands of Ash, Larch and Lime. This means felling the trees that are poorly formed (i.e. forked, or scruffy) to allow the better trees space to grow on. The timber we extract from this operation is processed for firewood, most of it through our Bilke log- processing machine, driven by the PTO of a tractor.
Due to control by humane trapping and possibly the hard winter we have had, we haven’t sighted many grey squirrels recently. This is good news for species of tree such as Larch, Beech, Oak and Chestnut that can be damaged or killed by the squirrels practice of bark stripping, and for our native wildlife with which they compete.
