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Bel’s Wood Waking Up Spring 2026

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Spring is a special time everywhere and having spent many hours at Bel’s Wood in the cold and dark days this winter, seeing the saplings sprouting, hearing bumblebees again and the wider range of birdsong in the lengthening days is a delight. One of the species of tree that I have introduced to Bel’s Wood is the Alder. I know Alder as a large old knurly tree. Last year the saplings become well established growing straight and tall and with side branches radiating evenly. Well, spring brought new delights with colour from fruit and flowers on these 2m high trees. Alder flowers The purple/ violet and yellow colours remind me of Regency Colours and came as a complete surprise to me and has made the tree a new favourite. The Willow trees have grown well and many of the saplings planted 2 years ago have produced pussy willow. Pussy willow on saplings September 2025 one of the tallest trees at the wood modelled by my friend Lisa This is particularly pleasing as I have lost one grand o...
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A meditative day at the wood with oak and birch

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I have found moving  saplings to be a meditative task. It cannot be rushed. I staked, protected and marked the self seeded saplings in autumn and need to find those again amongst the dead bracken, thriving brambles and gorse. I started in January knowing I had 39 saplings to find with plenty of time until the trees come out of dormancy in spring. I chose a gorgeous sunny day with no wind, bird song and the sound of birds flitting about filled the air - Robin, Blue tits and Wren and took my time wanting to learn how to tackle this new task. A Raven honked over head as I went on my hunt for the red marked stakes. Two red stripes signifies that this is an oak; one stripe anything else  as I am clear where I want the oaks to go Oaks bury their roots deep in the ground and grow directly downwards. The length of the tap root is longer than shoot showing above ground. Working patiently through the loam, the hard and rocky layer and into the clay I lifted the first one. The tap root...
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