Recommend evergreen for woodland

[spandit]

My fledgling woodland is doing well but mostly deciduous so looks pretty sparse and sad in the winter. I have a few Scots pine and holly planted, none of which are doing that well but wondered what evergreen species I could plant to give it some structure/cover at this time of year?

[spandit]

23 minutes ago, Will C said:

Watch the home oak doesn’t take over, it spreads like wild fire over here

It's got a lot of willow and birch to contend with

[Treerover]

Well I've ordered hemlock, western red cedar and holm oak. I also bought some box trees locally which I'll leave to grow into standards. I have some bay laurel that might have put out some seedlings so I can transplant that too

Thank Christ you didn’t choose the incongruous antipodean scourge that is bloody Eucalyptus.
They stick out on the landscape like a mock Tudor Barratt home in a conservation area [emoji36]🤮

[Khriss]

Shhhhhhhhh ! Jon might be listening ☺️ K

[Rough Hewn]

 
Nonsense [emoji1]
 
There is a lovely 4.5 hectare block of 10.5 year old nitens near Totnes, and you cannot distinguish it from the other woodlands in the area from afar. Close up, it's a lovely, light and airy stand, with a pleasant eucalyptus aroma and captivating rustling of the leaves as the breeze filters through. 
 
Having spoken to a number of locals, canvassing opinion, they all seem to love it. 
 
Much preferable to a 10 year old native broadleaf woodland, which might best be described as squirrel infested, or shit [emoji3]

J aren’t you planning on leaving the uk?
If so could you please leave the legacy of our British forests alone.
🤣🤣🤣[emoji6][emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

[Rough Hewn]

Yep [emoji3]
 
The UK is a country in which the primary species are foreign, fast grown and evergreen. I don't understand the hostility towards eucalyptus. 
 
Have you actually been to a euc plantation?

Does Australia count?
They look great over there mixed in with the other rainforest trees.[emoji108]

I think the main problem we face is short term human greed.
Mainly due to our short lifespan.
If humans lived for a thousand years, I’m sure we’d all be planting forests very differently.
[emoji106]

[Rough Hewn]

 
I should have been more specific. I meant within the UK. They are no incongruous with their surroundings, and more preferable to conifer at 10 years old. 
 
It's not a question of greed. It's a question of growing a crop for a demand that exists and is not presently met. 
 
An argument for planting something like eucalyptus in amongst other species is that it can work as a nurse crop, drawing the other trees up. The euc can then be felled when at an appropriate size, providing excellent firewood.
 
The UK has a massive timber need, which is not met by our woodlands. We import 80% of our timber in the UK. This is now considerably more complicated thanks to Brexit. In order to get someway towards self sufficiency, we have to plant large areas of fast growing trees. Native broadleaves are all well and good in moderation, but they should be limited to difficult to work and marginal land.

Damn you and your rational and logic!
Very valid points.
How does the growth rate compare with birch as pioneer for first thinning?
[emoji106]

[MattyF]

I would like to see a plantation over 15 years old that is not a mess , they get to a certain size and then can’t take our climate in a harsh winter.

[Stere]

Theres so many euc  variaties though you would think a few might be suited as austrailia has a varied climate.

 

Probably the hardy ones aren't the fastetest growers?

 

Though maybe some off the species info the  "can withstand -15C etc" may be false marketing or optumistic?

[Khriss]

Plus you have way different soil types in Aus, our wet/warm type is not ideal. Norway grows fast n shit. Might err toward Eucs as a nurse tree as getting fed up of Birch, planted everywhere n fails fast - passed a load of it down to Heathrow and it was riddled with Piptoporus 😕 K

[Khriss]

( the Common got droves of it and its all failing too at 30 years / 10m just rubbish)