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Trees Regenerating

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  It’s been 4 years since the land constituting Bel’s Wood was enclosed and grazing ceased. The deer fence was erected 3 years ago the wood became fully deer proof just over a year ago.  The land is visibly recovering with self seeded saplings appearing on the woodland floor and some of the mature trees are changing now they are not being continually grazed. New saplings are appearing - the most common are Blackthorn and Birch I’m not protecting the Blackthorn as it is so common and have their own thorns but I have moved some well established Birch into areas where some bought in saplings planted last year didn’t take and I am protecting those from smaller mammals such as hares and voles with spirals. I am particularly pleased to see these self seeded Ash saplings and I have left them where they are hoping that they estalish themselves and are Ash Dieback free. I found about a dozen of these tiddlers under a deep Hawthorn and Hazel canopy and realise these are Ash too. They ...
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The Subtle Changes in a Waking Tree

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  I’ve watched the mature willow tree sprout pussy willow The first catkins opened on the Hazel trees And the first buds have appeared on the saplings planted last year And the first green leaves burst into the sunshine (still working out who this is - planted in the Aspen zone but I think the planters had some random trees left as they planted this area last) But none of this explains the feeling I experience each spring when I watch the skeletal trees on the horizon with a sense of delight and wonder and I  don’t want the first leaves to appear.  It's the same wistfulness I feel in autumn, wanting the colours to hang on before winter. I don’t quite understand this as I love to see the blossom emerge and the air to be full of the buzz of insects again.  To see the fresh leaves giving the widest range of greens across the canopy. I thought this was an emotional response; wanting to slow down the rotation of the earth as once everything starts to bloom it is hard ...
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A Big Year for Bel’s Wood 2025

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Every year feels like a big year at Bel’s Wood! Year 0 2020 - Find and Buy the land Year 1 2021 - Develop a plan to create a woodland Year 2 2022 - Prepare the land and apply for the woodland creation grant Year 3 2023 - Buy and plant the trees Year 4 2024 - Lay mulch mats and control bracken around the 4,294 saplings Year 5 2025 - Watch them grow! As spring arrives I am looking to see how well the trees that were planted last year have established themselves. I will have lost some just through the process of planting and others through the conditions last year. I was lucky with plenty of rain with no periods of drought but by September, the amount of rain we had had, was causing a problem. Those saplings that had not grown beyond the top off the tree guards were going mouldy! I took those guards off where I spotted this happening but some will have perished.  Some saplings were shaded out by the bracken despite the huge effort put in last year to get round them all in time ...
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