Challenging planting site.. Advice please.

[TRADITIONAL LOGGERS]

I would have said Willows/Aspen and Brambles to start. There is a firm in this area that has spoil heaps from processing batteries and one can see reasonable growth now. The dust will be toxic and should use overalls and a good mask!

[benedmonds]

The Senior Monitoring and Enforcement Officer has decided on the following mix is most suitable.

 

Ash - 40%

Oak - 20%

Field maple - 10%

Hawthorn - 10%

Hazel - 10%

Holly - 5%

Alder - 5%

 

Cherry and/or goat willow could also be added in at a low proportion (2.5% each), at the expense of something else (e.g. in place of alder).

[Mycoman]

The Senior Monitoring and Enforcement Officer has decided on the following mix is most suitable.

 

Ash - 40%

Oak - 20%

Field maple - 10%

Hawthorn - 10%

Hazel - 10%

Holly - 5%

Alder - 5%

 

Cherry and/or goat willow could also be added in at a low proportion (2.5% each), at the expense of something else (e.g. in place of alder).

 

Who does this Senior Monitoring and Enforcement Officer work for? EA or the power station? Either way, seems to me he's looked up a book on 'what a wood should consist of' and asked for that. And no matter if it's metres of brown earth or compacted ash underneath.

 

Make your excuses and leave.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Ben,

Checked the pH ? If the soil is very acid, it could be a site where pioneers like birch, willow and maybe scotch pine can naturally associate with an ectomycorrhizal symbiont such as Pisolithus arhizus.

And alder is a good choice too, because apart from the tree species specific Frankia alni bacteria, it has its own ectomycorrhizal symbionts of the genus Alnicola, some of which alder also shares with willows.

 

 

 

In the u.k I would ad ash and sycamore to that list, let these wild pioneers return the site to nature, what they do best:thumbup1:

[slack ma girdle]

If they want instant effect some of the shrubs such as viburnam, dog wood, crab apple, guilder rose, elder, honey suckle, spindle, will all provide color at different time of the year, and because of there small size will cope better with the lack of top soil.

[cold cuts]

Alder ,Sycamore and Birch would be the way to go they can pioneer a site with de natured soil .

Regards Gav.