Decisions, decisions......(new video added!)

Having started with a high level plan of course leads to the need for more precise decisions - lots of them. Some of these decisions are not easy as they feel really important with long term consequences and I am new to all this. The more time I spend at Bel’s Wood the more I love it as it is but the purpose is to create a woodland with more trees (to capture carbon from the atmosphere) and support a wider biodiversity so that’s what I am going to do.

Trees, trees, trees

I have a few mature trees on the site - Cecelia (the sessile oaks) is stand out beauty. I have learned a new tree which I have only identified this spring - there are white beams across the plot. The new leaves look like magnolia. I have also counted 6 rowan trees so far. These will flower and feed the bees, then produce lovely red berries & provide food for birds.

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  White Beam                    Rowan
  
  Cecelia with leaves emerging 

Wilhelmina is a lovely mature willow tree that has been allowed to grow openly 360º, is straight and symmetrical and was first to spring pussy willow this year. The bumblebee queens were grateful for their nectar and pollen early in the season as they emerged from  their hibernation.

 New queen bumblebees filling up after their winter hibernation

Agnes is a beaut - I think she is the oldest hawthorn on site and the oldest person I have found record of living in the valley is Agnes Starnthwaite, so the tree is named in her honour. She provides a cardinal point on the site as she can be seen from most places & in the early days when I got lost she guided me. There are some other lovely old gnarled hawthorns which look fabulous at night when the interlocking branches caste shadows by the light of a head-torch.

  

Agnes - I find visitors like standing by her.                   Another old hawthorn near the road who                                                                            castes fearful shadows when lit up at night.                   

 

There are younger hawthorns creating the Maydor

And birch trees in the The Sylvan Corridor 

   

However the majority of the land is occupied by bracken and gorse. When I first visited the site in September 2020 it was impossible to navigate the site except for a few corridors which had been kept open by the pheasant shooters. The conclusion I have come to having spoken to experts is that the gorse is a monoculture. Grazing has not kept it in check. Without management it will engulf the rest of the open areas. To get more trees, I need to clear the land and plant trees while preserving open areas to create butterfly rides and margins for butterflies and birds

Aerial shot thanks to Andy Brown of www.shepherdaerial.com

 

Removing the gorse

Options for removing some of the most dense sections which are 3-4m high are being explored:-

1. Burning - which would require close supervision and either dowsing every night or 24 hour supervision. Not an attractive option in this valley, produces carbon for no gain and not good for wildlife.

2. Digging out, chipping & removing for biomass energy use - which would require everything to be removed from the site

3. Flaying with a hedge cutter and leaving on the ground to provide mulch. There will need to be some spraying following cutting to give the trees a chance of getting established before the gorse returns which it will.

The third of these is the most viable option although number 2 is still being explored as that is probably the best in terms of CO2 footprint. Mulching would mean the carbon is returned to the soil.

Badgers, deer and foxes

Clearing the most dense gorse will disrupt the current inhabitants. I will also need to erect a deer fence to protect the saplings. Each sapling will need to be protected with a cage of some sort as voles nibble the bark and kill trees when they are young (so much to learn!). I find myself sad to be intervening on what is currently the natural order of things at Bel's Wood which is busy with animal life. But also I am aware that the land has been grazed for very many year and shooting takes place currently (license runs to September 2022). This is a manmade environment no an ancient wood or meadow. To create the landscape that will bring pleasure to many and a wider biodiversity to the land, while fixing more carbon from the environment into the ground requires intervention.

Badger crossing the beck

Badger taking a drink and not dashing off for a change

Red deer passing through

Roe deer

Convincing evidence to support the need to exclude the deer for a while - yes those are my bluebells 😀

Biodiversity

As has been pointed out to me, the roadside edge outside my land has a richer and fuller mix of plant life than inside my land. Just leaving my land will bring a degree of recovery as grazing by cows and sheep has stopped. Creating habitats that encourage invertebrates, flowers and understory will create the right circumstances for a wide range of flora and fauna. I am rejecting the ‘do nothing’ approach having read about rewilding projects done by others. The more I learn about habitats the better I will be able to develop a planting plan which achieves a balance of planting.

            Flowers on the verge are more prolific and varied having not been grazed 

Bird Cherry

Developing the plan

Balancing carbon sequestration, enhancing biodiversity and maintaining the feel of the place for people to visit and enjoy was always going to be a challenge. I am learning from so many people about what the opportunities are and the risk is that this makes me unable to make decisions. Pulling back and remembering the purpose and being inspired by other examples is keeping me moving forward and making those decisions.