Bel's Wood

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 ...

I find myself willing time to slow down as we move into spring. I love to look at the skeletal trees on the skyline opposite the wood. While responding with excitement to the new leaves emerging I feel a pang of loss of winter. As the days have lengthened I have heard the bird song increase and become more insistent. And then the first queen bumblebees emerged looking for their nests. The willow is always first with its catkins and bumble and honeybees flock there.        The camera was triggered by nothing that appeared on screen  but I have included as the bird song is caught nicely so sound on for this one The gorse does fabulous work at this time of year being abundant and the yew trees are flowering now too which is leading to a buzz in the air.                                   Gorse                  ...