Bombus

Good advice. Thanks.

Sounds good. I'll take you up on that at some point.

Thanks. Yeah, ride widening is definitely on the cards. Will do...

I know the pictures aren't great, but anybody else got any general thoughts on it? Am I mad taking it on? I know it's going to need a lot of work initially at least, but 5 acres isn't very big and I'm hoping it'll be a fun project and turn into somewhere nice and peaceful for relaxing and enjoying with the family.

I'm not actually sure, since I haven't been able to get into most of it yet. Some of the ash is a reasonable size for burning. I did coppice a few just to get some light into a struggling bluebell patch. I'll see if I can find a bit of it and count the rings. I need to make some room anyway and get my rotation going, so will clear and cut an area and go from there. The Hazel will be getting too big for anything useful, so will need cutting anyway if I am going to keep it in rotation. I'll be spending a few days down there this week hopefully, so will get some new pics.

Yeah, don't know when exactly, but seems to have been done fairly recently.

Thanks a lot. Very useful. The soil is clay, not sure about PH, but assume it's probably neutral to alkaline and overall it's fairly moist, but not boggy. I was aware the walnuts chemically inhibit other plant growth, but hadn't really considered the impact too much. Might be useful for a camping/picnic and parking area.

Photo's aren't great, but all I've got to hand. Where am I going to put the trees? Good question! I'll squeeze them in somewhere. Hopefully. I'm thinking I'll do a bit of scrub clearance and coppicing and stick them in the gaps in the cant, then maybe sacrifice some of the existing stools later. Not having too many standards currently gives me a bit of room and light to play with potentially. I'm open to any suggestions though.

Any thoughts on the species I've ordered, or the best way to introduce them to the wood?

http://www.woodlands.co.uk/owning-a-wood/managing-your-woodland-for-wildlife/07-chapter-5---creating-new-opportunities-for-wildlife.pdf 5.2 Bird nestboxes Bird nestboxes can make an enormous difference to the populations of some species, but in many woods they are simply not necessary. First of all you need to assess the availability of natural nest holes in your wood. Mature woodland which has good structural diversity and trees of a wide age range, including older trees with holes and cavities and similar nest sites, is unlikely to benefit from nestboxes. This conclusion may be confirmed if you find evidence of the presence of good populations of a range of hole-nesting birds: consider carrying out a woodland bird survey in spring (see Section 2.3). If there are already enough nesting places, boxes can actually upset the balance of species if they encourage the populations of commoner birds such as blue tit, which can compete aggressively with much rarer species such as marsh tit for nest sites and food (Symes and Currie, 2005). Nestboxes might be considered if a particular species such as pied flycatcher or willow tit is declining or absent, in which case boxes could be put up specifically for the target species, especially if suitable nest holes are in limited supply. Similar issues arise if you have a new woodland at the stage of canopy closure. Here there will be few if any natural hole-nesting opportunities, but putting up nestboxes will attract relatively common species such as blue tit and great tit. These birds normally feed in the higher canopy, but in young woodland, they might compete for food with declining understorey specialists such as nightingale, garden warbler and willow warbler. In contrast, nestboxes may be much more successful in secondary lowland woodland with poor structural diversity, lacking in older trees, and hence with few opportunities for holenesting birds. Mature woods which have been heavily managed, with few old trees remaining, also lack natural tree holes; examples include lowland mixed deciduous woodland converted to conifer plantations or chestnut coppice with few oak standards remaining; and many of the heavily managed upland oak woods in western Britain. Pied flycatcher and common redstart in particular, which have declined in western oak woods, have benefitted enormously from major nestbox schemes, providing the woodland has sufficient food resources available. Nestboxes can also be successfully employed for owls in young woodland, or larger open areas associated with mature woodland or plantations. Barn owl boxes erected 3–5 m above the ground on a solitary mature tree or pole may also attract other species such as kestrel and stock dove.

Awesome thread/wood! Couple of quick points after reading through. I'm no expert, but have read that bird boxes aren't always a good idea in woodland, as they can encourage the more common birds like blue and great tits at the expense of rarer/more specialist birds. And you have to be careful with Glusophate. it's very toxic to aquatic live, so be careful around water courses and ditches.

It's interesting that you've planted so many Hazels WoodyGuy. What's your reasoning? I assume you have a market/use for them? My understanding was there's not much demand for it these days, and what demand there is is supplied by very cheap imports from eastern Europe. Since it's not useful for long term firewood production, I'm struggling to see what I can do with acres of Hazel coppice. I'm not planning on getting rid of it all by any means, but I think losing some to add to the overall diversity will be a good thing overall.

I'll bear that in mind. I've also read that brash can encourage rabbits, so it's not easy to know what the best approach is.

i appreciate the advice and I am trying to be measured and careful about what I do. I just feel that a wood mostly made of only 3 species (all of use commercially previously and 2 in imminent danger from pests/diseases) isn't that natural or robust. I'm not planing on clear felling whole chunks at a time, just selectively introducing a few new native species here and there. The one's that are well suited, will hopefully spread over time, the one's that aren't might struggle and get out competed. There's a lot of Hazel coppice (which unless someone knows different) isn't that useful these days, so I think replacing some of it, with more variety will be beneficial overall. Plus, my wood is a small part of a much larger wood, so any changes i make to my little bit won't affect the overall balance/composition too much and can only help on a larger scale. I'm open to all advice and suggestions though! I just want to do what's best for the wood at the end of the day.

I have already read your thread, but might be worth going through it again for any tips. Good advice about spending time and observing it. I'm not doing anything too drastic to start with. As people pointout, you can't unfell trees. I'll see if I can dig some pics out, and take more when i'm down there next. It'll be good to see the progress over time in future.

In terms of species, I did get a bit impatient and did an impulse order of bare root trees the other day. Here's what I've went for initially:- Prunus avium (Wild Cherry) - Bareroot Available November to March Sorbus aucuparia (Rowan, Mountain Ash) - Bareroot Available November to March Prunus padus (Bird Cherry) - Bareroot Available November to March Betula pendula (Silver Birch) - Bareroot Available November to March Acer campestre (Field Maple) - Bareroot Available November - March Malus sylvestris (Crab Apple) - Bareroot Available November to March Alnus glutinosa (Common Alder) - Bareroot Available November to March Quercus robur (English Oak) - Bareroot Available November to March Tilia cordata Small-leaved Lime Bareroot Available November to March Castanea sativa (Sweet Chestnut) - Bareroot Available November to March Viburnum lantana (Wayfaring Tree) - Bareroot Available November to March Sorbus aria (Whitebeam) - Bareroot Available November to March Carpinus betulus (Hornbeam) - Bareroot Available November to March Rhamnus frangula (Alder Buckthorn) - Bareroot Available November to March Taxus baccata (Yew) - Bareroot 30 - 45 cm Available November to March Juglans regia (Walnut) - Bareroot Available November to March Juglans nigra (Black Walnut) - Bareroot Available November to March Mostly in quantities of 3-5, just to get some variety and get something planted. Mostly native, but stuck a few chestnuts and walnuts in as well. Was thinking I could try coppicing some sweet chestnut and try to grow some decent specimen oaks and walnuts for the (great?) grand kids. Got to work where to plant them all now. Sounds like coppicing/killing some Hazel to make a bit of space and extra light might be the way forward. Any thoughts, or tips on planting such a varied mix without anything getting swamped out? I assume I'm going need to stop them being munched somehow? There are lots of old tree shelters already there, from whoever had it before me. Can I reuse those?

Interesting post. Thanks. Makes sense about the Hazel I suppose. Seems a shame to kill some of the Hazel stools, but it would free up some space for different more useful species at least. If Ash and Hazel coppice have any value on a shorter cycle, I suppose I could sell them and buy fire wood with the cash instead, but don't really want too much hassle. Anyone interested in Hazel coppice products? If not, I could replace them with something else coppiced. Any suggestions? So far I've just been using lobbers/secateurs/bill-hook to clear the undergrowth and a scythe for the grass, but was thinking investing in a brush cutter might be worthwhile. I'm keen on using native species as much as possible for wildlife purposes. And also it's a SSSI, so might not have a lot of option there. I did know the Yellow Rattle needed the cold to germinate, but thanks anyway. Anyone got any experience using it to control and diversify rides? I'm hoping for less grass and more flowers for wildlife, as well as less maintenance. Good point re coppicing and deer. I might just cut a bit and see what happens initially. I can live with some loss, but obviously don't what everything being destroyed.

I want to increase the species variety for both bio-diversity and future resilience (considering Chalara and Acute Oak die back etc). All my eggs are well and truly in Oak and Ash baskets at the minute, which could be a bit disastrous. I might be left with just Hazel and Roses in a few years. I'll keep it 95%+ native (might squeeze a few Walnuts in and Sweet Chestnuts in). What's the best way of introducing new species? In terms of light and space I mean. Can I just find odd spaces and pop them in, or do i need to clear larger areas and make new stands?

Thanks. Might have to consider 7 sections coppiced every other year then. As you say, don't want them too small. I need more wood! I don't really want to spend loads if I don't have too, but will have to see. Don't want it all trashed either.

Mine's classified as ancient.

As far as I can tell, there isn't any known tracks. There's 1 ride, which I intend to widen and extend. I'm just been making paths in between stools/trees as I go so far. I'd like to put in more rides, but I'm a bit concerned/put off by the potential maintenance. I've got some Yellow Rattle seed I'm going to sow in the existing ride to try and control the grass a bit and get more variety/wild flowers/wildlife, but no idea if it'll take, or how effective it'll be.

Thanks both. A plan and sticking to it sounds like a good idea. makes it a bit less overwhelming. I was thinking dividing into 6 or 7 zones and coppicing them annually. Would 6 or 7 year old Hazel and Ash be big enough for firewood? I'm aware deer could be a problem with coppicing, but since the vast majority of it is already Ash and Hazel stools, I don't really have a whole lot of other options. I have seen 1 deer when I've been there, but there isn't a noticeable browse line so I'm kind of hoping it'll be okay.

Quick intro and background. I own a small 5 acre piece of woodland. It's mostly a mix of Ash and Hazel coppice, with some Ash and Oak standards and a very overgrown shrub layer seemingly mostly of wild roses. It's not been touched for a few years and is a bit wild. The main aim is to use it for firewood, recreation and to encourage and benefit wildlife. The production of high quality/value timber for someone else in the future would be a nice bonus, but isn't my main focus at the moment. I've had it for a year or so, but not really done much yet. The shrub layer is very over grown and and I basically haven't even been in most of it yet as it's impenetrable. I've started on clearing/making some paths to make it more of it accessible and coppiced a very small area to let some light into a struggling patch of bluebells and that's about it so far. I'm not in the forestry/arb business, but have done quite a bit of reading and research over the last year or so, so not completely clueless at least. Anyway, you guys seem very knowledgeable and helpful, so after lurking for a while, I thought I'd sign up and get your input and share my and the woods progress. As a noob, I have various (probably stupid) plans and questions, so I'll just use this thread as and when needed if that's okay.