what would you plant?

[Bren.]

Thanks for the replies.

The area where the conifers are is on the perimeter edge of the wood, it is south facing and the area is fairly dry most of the year. The wood borders farmland so the border is not sheltered or shaded

 

I want the replacements to serve as a wind break and use full to wildlife rather than timber

 

The wood currently is comprised of a mix of oak, silver birch, black pop, hazel, goat willow, wild cherry and sycamore.

 

I haven't seen a huge amount of seedlings coming through, and the floor is very dense with fern and bramble.

That may be why you haven't seen a huge amount, more difficult to spot amongst bramble, but brambles do make good nursery areas for regen. Have a closer look.

[muldonach]

Thanks for the replies. ]The area where the conifers are is on the perimeter edge of the wood, it is south facing and the area is fairly dry most of the year. The wood borders farmland so the border is not sheltered or shaded

 

I want the replacements to serve as a wind break and use full to wildlife rather than timber

 

Go with shrubby species rather than the larger hardwoods - hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, rowan etc etc, plant them in groups and try to use berry bearing species.

 

The wood currently is comprised of a mix of oak, silver birch, black pop, hazel, goat willow, wild cherry and sycamore.

 

I haven't seen a huge amount of seedlings coming through, and the floor is very dense with fern and bramble

.

 

Light = life - you will get little regen unless you knock the fern and bramble back. You can do it mechanically or chemically but you need to do it and you probably need to tube any transplants or selected regen

[woodyguy]

Berry bearing is good. So lots of Hawthorn, sorbus species, crab apple, pear, cherry if not too dry. Don't ignore non native that support wildlife so sweet chestnut, grey alder, italian alder, sycamore or norway maple, Robinia. Lastly low growing stuff like gorse or native roses are great as well. Sounds fun.

[wakarb]

Much of the work I have done thus far has been removing dead and dangerous trees, now that is mostly done I will be concentrating on the reduction of ground cover. I'm sure that once I get in to this I will find some good seedlings that I can protect. How is a good and cost effective tree guard supplier?

 

I must say I'm loving spending time in the wood, its great fun and very satisfying work.

 

Thanks for the advice sofar.

[woodyguy]

I generally use this ebay seller who is very quick cheap and helpful.

100 Tubex Easywrap Rabbit Guards for hedging protection | eBay

[Austin Spanners]

Hi wakarb, I second all that has been said, especially light. The aim of woodland management for wildlife (primarily) is to provide diversity of habitat, through the management of light and structure.

 

If not done so already, I would strongly recommend spending a full year watching the woodland through all seasons. This is to see what lives where. See what birds are present, bats, ground mammals, butterflies and of course, fungi. All these will give you a better understanding of what is present to support these creatures.

 

I have seen, all too often, well - intentioned management destroy some interesting habitats and colonies just through jumping in before looking.

 

If your wood is big enough (3ha or over) and you have the inclination, you can get help from the FC to write a management plan under their EWGS, which may in turn lead you into further funding opportunities.

 

Anyhow, good luck with it all and there's plenty of peeps here with loads of experience.

[wakarb]

Cheers woodyguy, I will grab some of those.

 

Thanks for the advice Austin spanners, I want to spend as much time in there as possible so what an excuse

[SteveA]

If it were me I'd go for the natural regen. To clear bracken & bramble I'd go with with a machete and austrian scythe (fitted with a ditch blade). Would hack any high stuff or big woody bramble with the machete.... the scythe is for selective slicing at ground level, taking care not to nip seedlings.

 

In your work area take a bunch of old plastic plant pots to mark the position of seedlings; saves standing on them, or scratching them up when dragging out those gnarly brambles.

 

We don't have deer where we are (the aristocracy have them mounted on their walls), so you may want to use some bramble as defence; or rent an aristocrat for a day?!

Edited October 9, 2013 by SteveA

[wakarb]

I like the machete and scythe idea, I think a machine would be to good at it's job and destroy everything. The pots to mark the regen is good aswell.

 

Not sure about getting an aristocrat and his chums in there, maybe just the tree guards will do.