Bel's Wood

It is National Tree week in the UK from from 25th November - 3rd December so I have decided to blog about some of my favourite trees telling some of the stories attached to them. This one is about the three mature oaks. I will blog about the three yew trees at the wood, a rowan tree that is special to me, praise the gorse on site and in my previous blog I told the story of Agnes the hawthorn tree. Check back in to see the other blogs which celebrate trees during Tree Week. There are three wonderful mature oak trees at Bel's Wood.  They are sessile oaks which are native to Cumbria. Meet 'Cecelia the sessile oak' which I am measuring in this photograph. She sits at the top of the land and was the first tree I named as she can be seen from afar and acted as an easier reference point in my mind than saying 'the big oak at the top to the north' This is Cecil-B, the same age as Cecelia sitting on the rocky outcrop to the south of the site. He provides a sheltered space fo...

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...