Another Spring, Another Delight

While it is no surprise that spring is a joy, this year has felt special. After a long dark, wet winter with the ground boggy, spring has unfurled slowly. The trees are nearly all above the tree guards now so the leaves are visible looking across them and this is beginning to look like a wood.

Over the last 5 years the spread of wild flowers has increased and their density intensified now the browsers are excluded. Two years ago I mapped the spread of bluebells from 2021 - 2024 https://belswood20.blogspot.com/2024/05/bluebells-thriving-at-bels-wood.html. I walked around with the sketched map I had made to update it and I can say now that they are across the whole site. Density is greatest where they have been established for longer and I hope to create a woodland that has that deep haze of blue that comes from an established bluebell wood in a couple of years time.

For the first time this year I have come across Spanish Bluebells and Hybrids. I have removed these bydigging up the bulbs and shall watch out to see if they return in future years. The Spanish ones were on the main path in so may have come in on someone's footwear while the hybrids were nearer the village so perhaps have come in the wind and self seeded.

Spanish Bluebells

The telltale signs are that the flowers come out of the stalk all around the stem, their flower heads are more dense and bigger and there is no droop. Also they do not smell so I was confident of these ones.

English Bluebells with their typical droop and flowers on ones side of the stem on the left, Spanish on the right

The hybrids had a subtle smell but had the same bulky flowers coming out all around and have gone as well.

This Spring has been about preparing for the bracken to return. The saplings that are have not made it above the tree guards will be engulfed with grass and bracken really soon so I have added extra mulch mats to give them some breathing space.

While searching out these smaller saplings I have come across a pleasing amount of self seeded trees. I am particularly happy to have found this mini orchard of Wild Cherry. I have about 6 mature cherries across the site which give a wonderful display of blossom.

I have only had one or two self seeds before so to see this cluster is really pleasing.

Wild Cherry Self Seed with the 'mother' tree behind and then

'captured' with tree guards and mulch mats.

I shall move these in Autumn / Winter when they are dormant to infill for those saplings planted that have not survived. The Wild Cherries that I planted have done well. Out of the 250 planted there will have been failures although when a tree fails it is hard to tell what species it was. Topping up the planting with self seed helps and in time should make this a self sustaining woodland. Since the area that these have planted themselves is full of newly planted Scots Pines and Downy Birch I shall move them to the areas with mixed deciduous large trees to keep to the planting plan for now.

I have found about a dozen Oaks, a clutch of Hazel and a scattering of Rowans. Many I can leave in situ but where they are growing under a dense canopy or on a butterfly ride I am moving them as in fill.

Apart from the 'work' I have done at the wood (in inverted commas as this it has been a joy spending time up there) I have had many visitors to Bel's Wood who have shared that joy with me.