Planting woodland - sources of funding and using natural regrowth

[benedmonds]

I am plannning on expanding a community woodland. With no money..

 

Any advice on grants would be good as have never done anything similar.

 

There is a local, oak, ash wood approx 25 years old whoes understorey is covered in ash seedlings, I was wondering on the feasibilty of digging them up and moving them to the new site. Could I just harvest them as bare root trees and plant them up? How would you do that? What size would be best to take (the donor wood has 100's of thin whips up to 4m)? Will unprepared trees from an understorey survive?

 

I also know of a site on an old playing feild which is covered with 10 year old oaks. It's going to be bulldozed one of these days can I dig them up and get a nice supply of bare root oaks?

[John Barleycorn]

As for moving self seeded trees.

Sever the tap root by undercutting with a spade this winter when they are a year old. Then leave for a year to develop side roots before moving.

The BTCV guide to tree planting is the best book & free online on their website if you dont want to buy it.

[Marko]

Presuming you have permission, I would suggest selecting and moving 4-5ft ash whips between Nov and Feb/March. They are tough and should easly survive the move but if you know where you want to plant them then it might be an idea to Roundup a 3ft dia circle now in readiness for each tree arriving. A competition free patch of ground really does help in year 1 of a transplant.

 

You will struggle moving oaks. For the lowest cost base it would be far easier to spray of a patch and plant an acorn or two.

 

Good luck with your project

[Saw-sick Steve]

Firstly, what's the proposed site like - improved or unimproved grassland? Arable? What's the soil like, fertile, stony, damp?

I've planted up thousands of new trees and created new woodlands, but would need to know a few basic facts about the site.

Using self-seeded trees is an excellent and cheap way of creating new woods, and ensures trees of local provenance are used.

A few golden rules that I would follow based on my own experience;

i) Don't undercut your seedlings! I've seen this mantra repeated on so many tree planting sites. Yes. it produces a more 'bushy' root, but mother nature knows what she's doing. The idea of a tap root is to anchor the tree and go deep to draw up water in times of drought. Removing it deprives the growing tree of these vital functions - why do you think so many planting schemes have to be staked and watered?

ii) Get down to mineral soil if possible, either by spraying, ploughing or grading with a swing shovel. This will remove the competition from weeds for the vital couple of seasons to enable your trees to get of to a flyer. After that, weeding is irrelevant under most conditions and means you can...

iii) ...use the smallest seedlings you can! Most transplants suffer from a degree of stress when they're moved. The smaller they are when they are moved, the quicker they get over the stress. That's why you see pit planted standards 'sitting still' for a number of years after planting.

I've seen numerous 'woodland expansion' plantings where the natural regeneration has overtaken the serried ranks of tree sheltered planting.

Following these basic ground rules, I've achieved over 90% survival rate, and growth rates that far exceed bought in whips.

For tree guards, search for the milk container idea here.

 

Gotta go now, feel free to ask anything else.

[John Barleycorn]

Maybe undercutting is not ideal, but I have found that the tap root on a year old Oak tree can be at least 18 inches long.

Moving the odd one is ok, but not a whole woodland.

Happy digging

[armchairarborist]

i have a friend local to me who will propagate just about any tree for me for the love of doing it, usually in batches of seed trays, can you find someone near you who is greenfingered enough to help..?

[APC]

Protect the new saplings once transplanted by dumping holly over them.

 

We have proved this to work at my country park.

[Saw-sick Steve]

Maybe undercutting is not ideal, but I have found that the tap root on a year old Oak tree can be at least 18 inches long.

Moving the odd one is ok, but not a whole woodland.

Happy digging

Oak I transplant when the first seed leaves appear, (or even when the acorn is germinating), either into a pot or direct to site. Even with a long tap root, I have transplanted into soil rather like you do with leeks - making a hole with a bar and firming after wards.