Woodland Plans

As I alluded to before, I had always wanted my own woodland, for various reasons, amongst them being a source of fuel, a place to camp and a place to reconnect with nature. My interest in bushcraft had only increased my want for a place of my own that I could manage to my own ends. Unfortunately, apart from the small orchard and numerous trees around the perimeter, there was no woodland associated with the property. With little money spare and with the neighbours being in no mood to sell me their woodland, I had no option but to plant one from scratch.

 

Some searching around for assistance led me to the Woodland Trust MOREWoods scheme (see Links). This is an initiative set up by the Woodland Trust in order to create more woodland in the UK and comes in the form of a substantial discount on the purchase prices of young trees and the necessary protection they would need to avoid predation by deer, rabbits and other creatures.

 

A few e-mails and phone calls later, I had a visit scheduled by one of their representatives who would survey the site and advise on species and quantity of trees for my new woodland.

 

The Woodland Trust representative, Luke, arrived and we walked the pasture together. He had a fair knowledge of tree species but explained that there was only a limited number of species available, all native trees. He promised to come back with a quote in a few days.

 

The quote duly arrived and was for 4,500 trees, including a lot of willow and birch. As much as I like birch, the wood rots very easily and there was plenty around, including a huge one that had recently fallen down (conveniently it was one that was leaning on another and I was going to have to pay a tree surgeon to drop it but the storms over the Winter pushed it to the ground and I spent a few days clearing up the remains with a chainsaw). Willow, of many species at least, takes root extremely easily from cuttings and I was reluctant to pay for bareroot cuttings  - especially for Goat willow (salix caprea) that is not of great value either for timber or for weaving/ living structures. The inital plan was to blanket the entire upper paddock with trees, as well as planting some clumps in the lower paddock. Discussions with family, colleagues and on-line made me reassess my plans and leave a significant amount of pasture free from planting, in order to graze animals if required. A few unexpected large bills also made me nervous to commit to such a large order and the Trust was happy to amend the quote to 1,500 trees, as well as amending the selected species.

 

The species selected were as follows (numbers in brackets were final figures):

Species	Number	Notes
Alder	300 (375)	I selected alder because it thrives on damp ground, grows quickly, coppices easily and provides excellent firewood once dry. The charcoal is said to make the best gunpowder and the roots form nitrogen fixing nodules that will help to improve soil conditions. The lack of sweet chestnut and whitebeam is the reason for the increased order
Aspen	50 (75)	The Latin name for Aspen is populus tremens – the trembling poplar. This is because the cross section of the leaf stalk is rectangular and thus makes the leaf flutter from side-to-side in the wind, a very attractive sight on a mature tree. I had also read that as a pioneer species, aspen is not fussy about soil type and grows rapidly. The whitebeam order was split between alder and aspen
Beech	125	Not traditionally associated with damp soils but there is an enormous beech tree over the fence on a neighbouring property. Makes for an attractive tree and provides good timber when mature. I had originally wanted copper beech for the pretty foliage but these weren’t available.
Blackthorn	50	I wanted this for the sloes (sloe gin anyone?) and the blossom.
Crab apple	50	There was a single, mature crab apple in the hedgerow and as well as providing a useful fruit, full of pectin for jam-making, it has pretty blossom
Field maple	100	I had queried why sycamore wasn’t on the list but was told it was an invasive species. Subsequent research doesn’t really support this theory but the field maple is an attractive tree nonetheless and I have since been offered no end of sycamore seedlings should I want them. I’m hoping once mature the sap may prove to be a good source of maple syrup, although the species used for this in Canada is the sugar maple, acer saccharum
Hazel	150 (200)	The Woodland Trust considers this to be a shrub rather than a tree, which surprised me as a friend’s woodland has some very large examples. Selected for the many uses of coppiced product, pea sticks, hurdles etc. and also for the nuts. Makes excellent firewood which is why I increased the numbers at the expense of hawthorn
Hawthorn	150 (125)	I must admit to being a bit sneaky here. I like hawthorn, it has pretty blossom, the fruits are edible (as are the new leaves in Spring) and it provides some of the best firewood although you don’t see many large examples around. I wanted to extend the hedge along the road up alongside the drive. The thorns on hawthorn make for excellent security and it’s most often found in hedgerows. There are some larger examples on the property that I presume grew from unmanaged hedges. As it turned out, my calculations showed that I would need far more than this for a high density hedge so I ordered and planted a few hundred before these ones arrived
Hornbeam	50 (75)	A great firewood and also used to make cog teeth in water mills. Like beech it often keeps its leaves on in the autumn which is why it’s often planted as a hedge. There is a single example in the hedge already
Pedunculate oak	125	What tree symbolises England more than the mighty oak? There are many large examples around the perimeter but many have been cut down nationwide to provide timber for building ships and houses. Although taking an age to season (3 years is best), the firewood is great. We’ve got some different species of oak on the property which I’ve yet to identify and have many seedlings sprouting up from the bumper crop of acorns in the past autumn
Scots pine	25	The road on which our property sits used to have a long plantation of Scots pine along it (over the road). They were cut down before WW2 and we have a single example dominating the corner of the lower paddock. My fancy was to grow two circles of pine trees, to provide a focal point should we be holding camps here in the future. The remaining tree will be planted somewhere else.
Spindle	50	The berries of the spindle tree look delicious but sadly they’re poisonous to humans. Pretty, though, and the birds can eat them. Planted for this reason. It’s listed as a shrub
Sweet chestnut	125 (0)	We have 2 on the property and although it’s one of the best trees to coppice, I am reluctant to chop them down. Sadly, the nursery was out of stock for the final order but there are plans to plant many more next year, for timber and nuts
Whitebeam	50 (0)	Initially ordered for variety and the attractive berries, subsequent reading made me nervous that they wouldn’t like our acid soil, preferring alkaline, dry conditions so I subsequently changed the order
Wild cherry	125	Planted for the blossom as well as the fact it likes damp ground and provides good firewood

 

The Woodland Trust initially suggested quite large number of dog rose (rosa canina) but I’ve always seen this as a climber in hedgerows. I’m hoping to propagate some later in the year for planting in the hedges. The blossoms are beautiful and it helps to make an impenetrable hedge – not what I’d consider suitable for a standard tree. They also suggested holly but as we have plenty already, I decided not to plant any more. It’s certainly attractive throughout the year and supplies pretty berries for Christmas but I am reluctant to have spiky species in my woodland – there’s enough brambles around for that!

Other trees I wanted included ash, fraxinus excelsior, but due to the risk of hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus (formerly known as chalara fraxinea) in the UK, this fast growing firewood species was not offered, and wild pear, for the blossom and fondness for damp ground. This wasn’t on offer for some reason but hopefully I can plant some next year.

A note on firewood

A cursory search on the Internet for firewood suitability will bring up variations on an old poem which gives erroneous information on which wood is best to burn. The fact of the matter is, any wood, once dry, will burn and give out plenty of heat. Willow and alder, for example, have a high water content so take a bit more drying and since they grow fast, they won’t burn for as long as, say, oak, but there are plenty of tree surgeons out there who heat their homes on wood considered low quality. Green oak burns like asbestos (i.e. doesn’t) but biomass plants use predominantly willow