Bel's Wood

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. Two red stripes signifies that this is an oak; one stripe anything else  as I am clear where I want the oaks to go 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...

I have been through a poor patch with the wildlife cameras over the last months only capturing squirrels, mice, badgers and common garden birds.  Grey squirrels enjoying this mast year for acorns and hazel nuts Blue tits feeding on insects Badger crossing the beck at night Mouse running around - I get many of these shots and they are always busily running and jumping around - I am not sure what they are doing. They appear nervous and indecisive and are perhaps responding to their awareness of predators. See below. I frequently pick up footage of the Sparrowhawk family that lives here and I hear them making their murdurous cry when at the wood. The Wren is one of the most common sights and sounds at the wood so it is good to see this one feeding on the beck The Song Thrush is also a common sight They are still good to see on the camera but just once in a while I do hit lucky. I tried new camera positions once the leaves had fallen from the trees so there are clearer branches to...

After a wonderful summer with sunshine, warmth and plenty of rain the trees have become well established. As the season changes signalled by the chill in the air, the colour of the bracken and on the leaves of the trees, it is time to get the wood ready for winter. I am working my way around all of the trees before the leaves fall. I am removing any dead ones including the guards and stakes. I have not removed dead trees before as I thought it was helpful to mark the areas where trees did not survive. The tree may have failed due to shallow or rocky soil or maybe it is too wet or windy/exposed is some areas. I have now decided to remove them and I will consider where best to add trees (self seed or purchased) in another year's time. I will let the trees around them fill in for now.  Some trees warrant closer inspection as sometimes a new shoot is coming up from the roots to where a shoot has been nibbled or broken. These are good examples below.  On the left a tiny Rowan visib...

I am coming up to the 4th anniversary of taking ownership of Bel’s Wood.   So much has changed in that time and yet I feel I am at the beginning of this journey of creating a wood.  The saplings were delivered last December and planted by mid January.     Mulch mats were added February - May  Followed by 31/2 months of bracken bashing Watching the saplings grow has been a joy with some anxiety thrown in. I took stock of their growth a couple of months ago https://belswood20.blogspot.com/2024/09/celebrating-new-trees.html   Since the bracken died back I have enjoyed spending time at the wood removing grass from spirals, pushing back the remnants of bracken and clearing some brambles where a sapling is being overwhelmed. I have also ‘captured’ quite a few naturally regenerating oaks and hazels.  Oaks    I am leaving the birch without spirals or stakes as they are thriving more than those that I planted. I may move some which are strad...