A meditative day at the wood with oak and birch
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.
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 tapers and winds around rocks. I try and loosen the soil to leave the little hair like side shoots attached. Trying to get all the way below the tap root takes patience, pulling back soil, stones and clay with my fingers, feeling my way. The small ones come up easily with a hand below them teasing out the roots.
I choose their new home. For smaller ones I choose a grassy area with plenty of light. They go into the ground easily and I use a trowel to make a hole in the earth for the root to be planted into. I take some soil from where the sapling came from to transfer the biome they have germinated in and add some organic material grass, bracken or oak leaves to the freshly dug hole. Then I locate the sapling into the bowl and cover the root with soil excavated from below. I press the newly turned soil into the ground I stake them and add a tree guard and wish the tree well.
For the larger saplings with a longer root I need to dig deep again. I test the depth with the stake to choose somewhere I am likely to be able to place the tree with all of the tap root below the ground. When I find large rocks I need to dig again. When I find a soft channel going down I use my Hori Hori knife with a strong straight, narrow blade, to open a crevasse in the clay.
I line up the tree root and with my finger guide it down into the cold wetly and push it onwards. I fill the gap around the tap root with transferred loam as I have been told that air pockets hold the cold and damage the newly transferred root. I don’t always manage to get deep enough due to rocky ground so I build up the soil around the root so that the difference between below and above ground is as close to what it was where they were growing before. I repeat the procedure. When I have lifted 2 trees from the same area I plant them near one another remembering the learning about the interconnection between trees below the ground. The phrase ‘trauma of replanting’ has been used and I apologise to the trees again and wish them well. As I continue to hunt for oaks I plan where to move them aiming to match their ground conditions - wet to wet, rocky to rocky and give them better sunlight.
I move the larger trees to thorny & bracken engulfed areas that I have not planted into. My aim is to push back the margin of the woodland area into the messy bramble, gorse and bracken areas. I didn’t purchase Oak from nurseries for the original planting plan as I have native Sessile Oaks at the wood and when you purchase them from a nursery they could be pedunculate or hybrids. Although this may not matter I decided to use my established Cumbrian Sessile Oaks as seed stock. I collected acorns and germinated them at home and have transferred about a dozen trees into the wood successfully. Now with the deer fence in place, self seeded saplings are taking root across the site. Many of these are under a deep canopy and unlikely to thrive. Others are on paths or butterfly rides which I am keeping open. I have a clear plan of where the oaks are needed. Along the fence at the bottom of the hill where the road runs there are a few oaks and space for more. Then there are some rocky outcrops quite low on the site (so a taller tree like an oak won't take away the views from higher up) which could take a few grand trees. I have noticed that the 4 large, old oaks (250+ years old according to the Ready Reckoner) are all on rocky outcrops and also all have a holly tree growing with them. Maybe the rocky outcrop and holly bush protected them from predators (cattle, sheep and deer) and so I may be copying the wrong success features for this next stage but let’s see. I also have learned the phrase ‘thorn is the mother of oak’ so I am planting them in brambles. The taller ones should be able to get enough light despite the bracken.
Birch are a different story all together. Their roots spread out below the ground rather than the single one that the oak uses. There is a main tap root but the second and third roots are only marginally smaller and splay out at wide angles to one another. They have off shoots which are very slender, long and strong and entangled with one another more.
Using a garden fork starts the process and I go round once loosening the soil and working out the size of root that needs to be excavated. The root is shallow compared to the amount of tree above ground. Then pushing my hand under the tree stem (not yet a trunk) I tug the tree upwards and feel where the anchor points are. Again I trace these with my fingers easing them out. The larger trees need real fork work - putting my foot in the fork tines and pushing down. Clearing the top soil and then going in again. This is satisfying work. The roots give up their hold and I have a large clot of earth around the root bowl.
The new location needs a large bowl and again I add soil in the hope of transferring some home biome and protect and mark the tree and wish it well. The main planting plan included 350 Downy Birch which were planted 2 years ago. Most were planted alongside the Scots Pines but some went in other areas with large trees. The self seeded saplings are being moved into areas to replace those trees that failed for some reason (expectation that 15-20% of newly planted trees will fail). Happily many of these self seeded birches have sown themselves just where I need them and can be left where they are. I feel that they having been punking me for a while! The carefully planted, bought in trees have been stake and guarded and had a mulch mat added. These self seeds have had no such special attention but are in their home soil and have shot up and push out many side shoots right next to the new cosseted ones and in many instances look healthier. I moved some last year and most took so I have hoping these will act as infill trees over the coming years. If I have more than I need for replacements then I’ll plant them in the margins with the gorse and try and push that back a bit or at least stop it marching forwards again!
In total I have now moved 33 saplings. In addition to oak and birch I have moved a Rowan, a Willow, some unidentified saplings. They are all different underground but I haven’t learnt the pattern yet. I had staked 39 trees so have 6 to find and move. I think these are the birches growing next to this lovely Silver Birch known as both Bob and Sylvia. I am tempted to leave them where they are. They are in the main butterfly ride (the M6) which is why I staked them in Autumn but I can widen that the other side of the ride and leave this happy cluster growing together near their parent tree.
There are 2 birches at the top of the Gin and Tonic Terrace which I didn't stake but I am aiming to keep the view across the valley and these do need to be moved. They are rather large and to move these saplings I need a functioning garden fork. I have a little more time to get to these done before spring. I find myself wanting the world to turn slowly so as not to wake the trees just yet.
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