Bel's Wood

When putting together the planting plan it was advised to lay a mulch mat around each tree. These suppress the weeds & grass and maybe help a little with bracken; maintain moisture in dry times; provide nutrients into the soil for the roots as they decompose and control temperature. Laying them while planting the trees is ideal but slows the process down considerably and increases the cost per tree. Mindful of the English Woodland Creation Offer and having learned about its limitations ie the grant doesn’t reflect actual costs, I decided that I would lay the mats myself (with help from friends who have been brilliantly supportive of this project right from the beginning). I have time from the end of planting until spring when the grass begins to grow to get them down. Clearly the delays in planting that I have mentioned in earlier blogs has eroded this time (plans were to plant in November but trees didn’t go in until January and were fully planted by 18th January this year). And s...

  An oak sapling planted successfully - staked, guarded and mulch mat in place I came across the Vegan Land Movement and was impressed by their values and approach. They raise money through Crowd Funding ie small donations from many people, then buy plots of farming land to create wild spaces. They have purchased 4 plots of land in Somerset and have raised funds for a 5th. They will continue to raise money and buy land. They use the land in a suitable manner depending on what they have purchased all underpinned by vegan values. More details about the charity can be found on their website and links to donate:  https://globalvegancrowdfunder.org/vegan-land-movement-cic/?fbclid=IwAR0108GcQtJDPOj8Suv8TW6zqeYJ-ZTtFYowlf4qnaJUErIJeWedw_yeIus   Last weekend they invited volunteers to help plant trees in the Somerset levels. They have taken advice from suitable experts about options. As always there are controversies and the plot I visited is peat based. It has drains around ...