A Big Year for Bel’s Wood 2025
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 - bracken loved the rain! Others will have succumbed to predation despite the best effort to protect them. Some of the biodegradable tree guards have been nibbled so are giving less protection than expected (not many thankfully). I have been swapping degraded guards with intact ones - either by turning them over so the base is protected, or replacing them.
Once spring comes and the trees produce their leaves, I will be able to assess how many trees I have lost. I have found a research paper quoted in the Guardian (https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/24/trees-should-be-planted-without-plastic-guards-says-uk-study-aoe) which states that ‘On average, 85% of trees with shelters survive, while 50% survive if no shelter is used…’
I have used shelters for most of the saplings but Scot’s Pines do not thrive in them and are growing exposed. So my calculation is that I expect to lose about 530 deciduous trees and 380 Scot’s Pines, giving an estimate of about 900 trees over the next 10 years. If I can generate about 100 trees a year naturally then it looks like I won’t need to buy in new trees.
There are, however, a couple of species of tree that I left out of the original planting plan which I would like to add at some point as they are good for supporting wildlife. Buckthorn Alder supports the Brimstone butterfly and Guelder Rose is a good general supporter of wildlife and enjoyed particularly by Mistle Thrushes, Bullfinches and Hover Flies.
I collected fruit from Rowan trees last year and poms from the Whitebeam - see below the poms on the left and the Rowan berries on the right. I was not able to buy Whitebeam from any nurseries so I will be pleased if they germinate. I propagated about 30 Rowans successfully a couple of years ago and planted them last autumn and I hope to repeat that success.
In addition to germinating trees from seeds, I need to maximise the benefit of natural regeneration occurring. I spotted some self seeded trees in autumn last year. This is the first year the wood is deer free and it is great to see the land recovering from over grazing. I marked and guarded those which I knew I would need to move being in the wrong place ie where they were growing under a dense canopy/ close to a path/ in the middle of a butterfly ride. In the last 2 weeks I have managed to transplant 24. This feels like a low number but it is time consuming and fiddly work (and also most enjoyable). I need to locate them (and those with guards are harder as they look like all the other trees!), lift them while preserving the root as far as possible (which for the Oaks is a real challenge - they dive deep into the ground and close to rocks) and then move them to the location that needs the tree and plant & stake them and add a new mulch mat.
I didn’t purchase and plant Oaks last year and I have Cumbrian native Sessile Oaks and I didn’t want to bring in other species. So I have been looking out for self seeded saplings and marking them. I want these Oaks to fill in the gaps at the edge of the wood where they will be able to grow a large crown across the wall and of course this is not where they are regenerating so I need to carry them across the site. I am mostly planting where a sapling hasn’t taken and so that also needs to be located to make the move. Not easy in winter as most saplings look a bit dead just now but I need to make the move while the trees are dormant and that won’t be for much longer.
I am not moving the Common Birch which is growing in abundance in the Armpit as it is helpfully following the planting plan in amongst Downy Birch and Scot’s Pines. in fact the self seeded trees with no stake, guard or mulch mat are fairing far better than those reared in a nursery and protected - I felt punked by them last year!
These two are growing side by side:-
Birch left unchecked can dominate but so far I am happy to let these self seed flourish while the Scot’s Pines find their way nearby:-
I was delighted to find some self seeded Ash saplings this week. With Ash dieback in the wood I know I will be losing some grand old trees in the coming years. Maybe trees producing seeds is a sign of a healthy parent tree and maybe it will pass on its resistance - I can only hope. I am leaving them where they have planted themselves to maximise their chance of surviving as moving them would damage the roots however careful I am. Here are three I have found so far and I am happy to work around them; they are now staked and protected:-
Hawthorn and Blackthorn are the commonest tree on site. If I had not planted new trees and had excluded predators ie taken a more ‘hands off’ approach to rewilding, then these trees would dominate with some Rowan and Silver Birch with a few Oaks. I am leaving the saplings where they are growing unless their spiky branches are encroaching on paths or they are blocking butterfly rides. The Broom is doing very well too. It has grown tall and may shade out the saplings in the same way that gorse and bracken does. For now I am leaving it as the flowers will be a good nectar source which is especially attractive to the Green Hair Streak and the Long Tailed butterflies. So they stay for now but if they start to dominate I will need to remove some.
I am keeping a record of trees I am moving or staking in situ and have estimated regeneration that is taking place on its own. This gives me confidence that the current approach will top up the planted trees with at least 900 over the next 10 years.
2025 Bel’s Wood regenerating trees | Transfer naturally regenerated saplings moved | Natural regenerated and left in situ |
Oak | 9 | |
Willow | 6 | 1 |
Rowan | 2 | |
Hazel | 4 | |
Crab apple from home | 2 | |
Yew | 1 | |
Ash | 3 | |
Birch estimate | 30 | |
Hawthorn estimate | 50 | |
Blackthorn estimate | 50 | |
24 | 134 |
I have also spent some time with those sapling that really shot up last year. Some of the Aspen were as tall as me by the autumn.
I was worried going into winter that these tall Aspen which are growing on an exposed slope at the top of the site may bend and break. I upgraded their bamboo canes for taller and sturdier wooden stakes and tied them with what I had to hand.
I have also tidied up the staking arrangement for the Damsons in the orchard which looked a wind bashed by autumn last year.
It is lovely spending time at the wood at the moment. The bird song is increasing (the Great Tits were calling to each other as well as the Robins, Wrens and Blackbirds). The pussy willow is budding and the catkins on the Hazel trees have come out and are giving a lovely colour in the sunshine
So it is a big year for the wood as these saplings become established. I think it will take another 5 or 6 years for me to regard any year as ‘normal’ and that is a lovely thing.
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