Aerial shots and the tree planting plan

In March 2021 a friendly neighbour took some aerial shots of my land. This gave me a whole new understanding of the site and I was able to pull together my planting plan by the Autumn. A key change since last year is the removal of the long leggy gorse which isn't contributing much in terms of biodiversity and is stifling regeneration of trees. One year on, I needed to check that I have created the space required for the planting plan to be fulfilled so Andy has come back, with upgraded kit, to take new shots. 

I'll start with some ground level shots of before and after:-



The gate in the shot above can be seen in the middle of this shot below


This picture also shows how few trees there were growing under that gorse - just two hawthorns. This area will be planted with aspen which need support in Cumbria as they have become rare and is part of the BOOM project (Back on our Map) being run by Cumbria University https://www.cumbria.ac.uk/business/projects/south-cumbria-species-restoration/species/aspen/.



This is the area where the gorse  was most problematic and below shows the open area ready for planting next January. This will have Scots Pines and Birch






These photos are taken from similar spots and she how open the ground now is. This is in the middle of the plot and will be planted with medium sized trees like hazel, willow and rowans.


Video from 2021 taken from the high point of the plot


Video from 2022 showing the open areas and gives the best impression yet of the whole site. The edges of Bel's Wood can be picked out with the road along the bottom; the sheep grazed fields either side and the tall conifers at the top. The slightly odd edge south east (top right in this video) is hard to pick out. I call that area the armpit and it shows up more clearly in the stills below. 


The stills below are from 2021 on the left and 2022 on the right, both orientated with north to the top of the page. With even a cursory glance the cleared area on that south east area can be seen (bottom right here) and the northern and western edges (top and left). I have kept quite a bit of gorse as it does have value for biodiversity. The younger shorter area remain.


Below is the planting plan and mostly the areas that need to be clear have been. I can spot some areas where a bit of gorse remains but there is plenty of room to plant 3.9ha and just over 4,000 trees so job done.

Thanks to Andy Brown from Shepherd Aerial for taking the pics.  https://www.shepherdaerial.com 


Looking forward to next March when the trees will be in the ground!








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