Newbie with boggy unmanaged mostly broadleaf woodland...

[Hobby_Woodsman]

The TPO may just be there to prevent clear felling and building. Once you draught a suitable management plan you may well get the go-ahead from the council. Radically altering the drainage may cause existing trees to die if they've had no need to put down deep roots.

 

Clarify what you really want the woodland to be - too much interference will be detrimental to wildlife that tends to establish itself in what's available. Trying to force the landscape into something it's not is likely to result in failure or vast expense.

 

Anyway, pictures please & good luck!

 

Only change is to improve the cross site drainage.

 

The Council Officer's view is to establish an under-storey as currently there is no plant life on the woodland floor. This should help the general health of the established trees. Leaving the felled Birches in log piles situ along with much of the brash.

 

His feeling was a modest modification to the on site drainage coupled with the removal of the majority of Birches would, over the next 10-15 years, let the the woodland floor come back to life to the general benefit of the flora and fauna.

 

So I have to survey what is growing and then put together a basic plan of works. I do not intend to slash and burn for an instant change, more a little each Autumn and Winter.

[Notmegov]

What ever you do don't drain it. Last thing we need is more drained areas of land. Wet woodland is very important habitat.

 

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[Hobby_Woodsman]

It would help to know exactly what access you do have?

Worst case it sounds like you might need to crane a digger or whatever over your house.

Using a walk behind muncher then a rotavator might be worth considering.

 

Have a flail mower in mind on a hire basis to clear an access and mow down 5 years of neglect.

 

My home has a garden 100m long. Beside and below and beyond my land lies the woodland.

 

The boundary is marked by a Devon bank up to 6' higher than my garden.

 

The drop down to the woodland being about 10' at the end of my garden, this reduces to a 4' drop close to the house.

 

Or it would do if there was not a Devon Bank constructed 5 years ago using modern methods namely stainless mesh and turf. Not impossible to broach and likely to be the only casualty of the uniting of spaces.

[Hobby_Woodsman]

Sounds like a great project - there is a piece of land I have my eye on just down from us of similar size which I would like to plant up as a coppice. Only bit I can comment on is your paddock - if it's shady sweet chestnut won't like it. Hazel will be fine though. If 70-90yrs old, birch probably is reaching the end of its life at this point whereas the oak and beech are still young. It may be worth getting someone who knows what they are looking at to walk the wood with you and identify ideal spacings, trees with a good or bad form to keep/remove etc. From your description, it sounds like someone decent is likely to think the same way as the tree officer anyway which is a good thing. Also think about what you want to do with the trees you fell. If they are to be extracted for firewood then you need a way to do this. For your own use, you could literally ring it up where it falls and move it out in a wheelbarrow to your access rides but if there is more than this you need to think about what is going to happen to it.

 

Alec

 

Thanks for the advice on what will grow in shade that will be most useful.

 

Probably the least of my worries...for the moment

[cornish wood burner]

Have a flail mower in mind on a hire basis to clear an access and mow down 5 years of neglect.

 

My home has a garden 100m long. Beside and below and beyond my land lies the woodland.

 

The boundary is marked by a Devon bank up to 6' higher than my garden.

 

The drop down to the woodland being about 10' at the end of my garden, this reduces to a 4' drop close to the house.

 

Or it would do if there was not a Devon Bank constructed 5 years ago using modern methods namely stainless mesh and turf. Not impossible to broach and likely to be the only casualty of the uniting of spaces.

I would definitely consider making a road down over your bank. I presume you have access through your garden so then you can use whatever machines you want and as a bonus improve pedestrian access. Bigger is better but even a small 360 would soon be down over your bank.

[muldonach]

Thank you for your thoughts.

 

The land is the result of a settlement on a long dispute with a neighbour.

 

I wanted to guarantee a buffer between my new neighbour and my home; the 'paddock' and the wood are that barrier/buffer.

 

The woodland will be landlocked to any other purchaser, if it is not part of this settlement as my property will be the only place to gain access to it.

 

Whilst not worth anything of commercial significance and none with the TPO it will provide my extended family and I with a space of natural interest which we can manage in relatively low impact manner.

 

So working inside the terms and understanding of what can be done will probably not be too much of a restriction. More so as the Council man is happy to control the silver birch.

 

Most of what is felled will be left to recycle, being shady and Devon based, the felled trees will rot down fairly quickly.

 

The only reason for taking out the hung up trees is to make it safer to enjoy the space without fear of a tree falling on me or other visitors. From the boundary of the wood I have clear views across to Dartmoor.

 

There are no rides or other routes through or around the woodland, walking is a struggle due to the sheer number of weedy birches, so something more defined is needed. Then wheeled transport mountain bike/lawn tractor can get in and out, which will make the enjoyment of the space and the views more accessible.

 

..

 

I highlighted a paragraph above - I am not a lawyer but unfortunately I am very familiar with this point of law (in Scotland). There is no such thing as a landlocked property - it is a fundamental principe of property law (in Scotland) that the landownerr has the right of access to his property to the extent necessary to "enjoy" the property - it may be different in England but unless you have already confirmed this then don't assume that your statement is correct.

 

Fully sympathise with the rest of your post but I think my original point is valid - nice little project but its a garden - not a working wood. Do what you want to do to enhance your enjoyment but watch the costs.

[Hobby_Woodsman]

I have now approached and spoken to my local wildlife trust.

 

Who are broadly supportive, which is nice. They have also advised that there are a few grants still available to assist with improving my wildlife diversity...

 

After all the recent rain the woodland is flooded so no work in it now for several months. First job will be to culvert a ditch to give access across to the largest dry area about 150' square.

 

Then I will work to redirect the run off water into the permanent standing water rather than the boundary ditch. The ditch needs a LOT of work to clear it of 70years of silting. I don't want to disturb the all to thin boundary growth of Holly and hazel so hand digging will have to suffice.

 

Last job this winter will be to make a 'clear sky' space above the 'pond' by clearing out a few over-stood silver birches. This should get some sunlight to the woodland floor so that the soil warms up and permits a little plant growth to get under-way. It may also attract other aquatic wildlife to deal with the mosquito/midge/biting insect population that make summer evenings in my garden a misery; the bites flare up into a 50p sized weal of itchy redness with a hard black core.

 

It might also help retain the Mallards that currently seem more than happy to dabble about in the water, but never stay into the summer months.

 

Hope to hear in the next few days that the land exchange has completed.

 

I have a contractor starting next Monday to fell some leaning alders in my garden, not covered by the TPO, The timber from which will be used to make into access steps and handrails to provide pedestrian access over the Devon bank boundary there is one point where the drop from the bank into the woodland is measured in inches not feet.

 

However it also coincides with the greatest difference in height between my property and the woodland 8', hence the split timber retaining walls, from the Alders with rammed earth treads.

 

My contractor will, once the completion is registered, make an access from the nearest road into the woodland and install a suitable gate boundary gate. As well as providing a 'parking pad' across the softer areas of verge for delivery of materials.

 

Does anyone have experience with making culvert facing walls from sandbags filled with dry 3:2:1 concrete. I have looked at concrete blocks and other materials but they will look raw and take an age to acquire a covering facing of moss and algae, even with yoghurt liberally daubed about. Hessian sacks will 'wick' any water and retain it,

 

In the clean but moist atmosphere of the wood the Hessian will gain a layer of moss and ferns; much of my garden has naturally seeded ferns so I am very hopeful that the woodland will become a host to these interesting plants.

[agg221]

Does anyone have experience with making culvert facing walls from sandbags filled with dry 3:2:1 concrete. I have looked at concrete blocks and other materials but they will look raw and take an age to acquire a covering facing of moss and algae, even with yoghurt liberally daubed about. Hessian sacks will 'wick' any water and retain it.

 

I have done it in the past, on canal structures. I presume that, like with canals, you will have very little flow, which is good for avoiding scour (which can be an issue with unbonded structures, particularly if you want wide enough gaps to let ferns grow through. It's pretty straightforward, just fill and position, but remember that the bags aren't really bonded together so they don't resist pressure as well as a solid wall. You either need to build the wall as a triangle in section (wider at the base with a good batter) or, slightly counter-intuitively, if the face is vertical you want it wider at the top so that it tries to 'lean' back into the bank. If you do the latter you will need enough of a foundation to stop rotational slip.

 

Alec

[openspaceman]

just fill and position, but remember that the bags aren't really bonded together so they don't resist pressure as well as a solid wall.

 

 

I've never been back to see how it fared but I found the cement did make a bond through the hessian, albeit I'll grant it was probably not a good one.

 

If it's deep remember to leave some gaps for weep holes else hydrostatic pressure can push the wall out.

[Haironyourchest]

Couldn't you pound lengths of rebar through the bag wall to "pin" the bags together before the mix cures?