Bel's Wood

Today, Friday 26th January 2024 is a good day.  The planters finished the task of planting 4,200 trees. The last couple of weeks has presented considerable challenges with snow, rain, wind and storms. They were unable to get to the wood this week until today when they still had to overcome some challenging road conditions in Ambleside. Thankfully the days are slightly longer and so they were able to get the final 700 trees into the ground and to protect them with tree guards.                          These are the recycled guards and take a bit longer to wrap around each tree and stake as they have less spring than the new ones. I helped out with a dozen to help get them over the finish line! The entrance is part of zone 1 & has been the final zone to be planted:-   No time to stand an admire the handy work though! Each of the trees needs a mulch mat and these were delivered earlier this week.     ...

The plan had been to plant the 4,200 trees in November 2023 but the warm wet weather meant that the trees did no go dormant as anticipated and nurseries did not lift them from the ground. The climate appears to be changing and compressing the season for planting. I received a message on 1st December, the first day of winter, that the trees are now being lifted but ironically the ground was now too hard for planting to go ahead! I took this photograph on 3rd December in Kendal when the roads were impassable and I was happy to stay at home. Thankfully the sun appeared and the roads were gritted (mostly) and with care I made it to the wood with friends to work on those final wood piles that needed clearing.  It was wonderful seeing the wood with fresh, deep, powder snow and noticing the changes in such a short time. Not a leaf remained on the branches. The hawthorn berries had all dropped from the branches Some of the paths were blocked as the weight of the snow had made the gors...

Before I started to plan to plant a woodland I always thought that tree guards were used to protect saplings from deer. I now know they are used to prevent small mammals from eating the bark and killing the sapling particularly hares, rabbits and voles. Deer would of course nibble the shoots coming out of the top anyway. The damson tree above had only been planted a couple of days when it was nibbled. It has survived happily and the deer fence has since been tightened up in places so there are fewer coming and going now. This is a good reminder of what a red deer can do - the efficiency of the way she clears the bluebells is something to behold! The deer fence was erected a year ago (September 2022) and this year there has been some natural regeneration of trees where the previous two years there hasn’t which is a good start. That will not be enough protection when over 4,000 saplings go into the ground and they will need specific protection from smaller mammals as well. ...

Having delayed planting from January to November 2023 to address the bracken problem, the work to try and reduce its vigour has been taking place over the summer.                     The first signs appeared in May when the bluebells were in flower. It grew quickly through the month but the hot June with no rain did appear to slow the vigour of the growth somewhat.                           It reached full height by late June             I was struggling to keep the paths open and so the first mechanical cut took place on July 2nd.  It is a lovely feeling to be able to walk around again without shoulder height bracken to contend with. The mower has a wide turning circle which leaves margins where I want to plant with untouched growth.     Growth on the right is about 1.8m high. I have cut the margin on the l...