Planting a new wood.

[oowee]

I am in the process of planning to plant a wood in the field behind my house. Using native trees to join the woodland up on the hill down the field to the nature reserve sssi at the bottom. These are the trees in the plan. Oak 50 Beech 30, Hornbeam 40, Silver Birch 100, Field maple 107, Rowan 100, Sweet Chestnut 25, Small leaved lime 25, Hawthorn 25, Hazel 50, Crab 25, Guelder rose 30, Dogwood 30, Spindle 30, Holly 15. 

The field is roughly a rectangle sloping towards the house with a fall of about 2m. The trees will be planted in approximately half the field at 2m to 3m centres. There is a watering scheme for the first 3 years. I am planning on planting the trees in groups but also thinking of the visual from the house and the growth speed of the different trees wondering how to lay it out. Clearly some trees will grow faster than others and create shade for those to the north of them. Some of the larger trees will block out views in time although I might not have to be too concerned with that. The nearest point of planting to the house will be in the order of 12m and I was thinking to grade the trees away from the house with the smallest closest and the largest at the back. Should I plant groups of the larger trees or spread them out surrounded by the quicker growing trees. Each of the trees will have a mulch mat but no protection (I have cleared the rabbits). 

Any thoughts or experience would be welcome. 

[Mice!]

@Walker570

I saw something a while back offering grants for tree planting,  but it might not be a big enough piece of land to qualify?

[oowee]

11 minutes ago, Mice! said:

@Walker570

I saw something a while back offering grants for tree planting,  but it might not be a big enough piece of land to qualify?

I am getting a grant for it. There is a scheme through the woodland trust. 

[ditchman]

like the species...........really good mix......if you have the money bung in a few crab apple and apple trees and the odd pear tree...and forget about them

[old'un]

Don't the woodland trust come and advise what and where to plant?

[Ultrastu]

I'd be concerned  about the fast growing trees shading the slow ones like the oaks . Maybe put the oaks together in an area to give them best chance .the area of park land that was planted 2 years ago near me with 250 trees of different  species  probably has around 75 trees left alive .and it's clear that most of these are made up of only 3 or 4 species  where 15 different species  were originally  planted .

So maybe spread them around .I'd also leave a few clearings and walkways through it to give access for people and animals to pass  .

[Windswept]

35 minutes ago, oowee said:

Any thoughts or experience would be welcome. 

I expect you'll keep the squirrels down but in my woodland they hammered the hornbeam and field maple before moving onto the oaks.

I'd prefer to add some sycamore but you may not be able to. I also like to add that boat willow slips, I cut mine for free and they root easily, grow fast and provide something for critters to eat before the main trees establish and grow away.

When you say no protection all it takes is a single roe to wander through and it'll take out a large number of growing tips.

[Ultrastu]

I see no Ash  trees on your list .

Ash grows well and rather quickly .

And since we as a nation have been losing so many .it would be nice to plant some .

[jall25]

11 minutes ago, Windswept said:

I expect you'll keep the squirrels down but in my woodland they hammered the hornbeam and field maple before moving onto the oaks.

I'd prefer to add some sycamore but you may not be able to. I also like to add that boat willow slips, I cut mine for free and they root easily, grow fast and provide something for critters to eat before the main trees establish and grow away.

When you say no protection all it takes is a single roe to wander through and it'll take out a large number of growing tips.

Defo avoid the sycamore - they are invasive non native 

If you have any deer they make a bit of a mess - i have a few and they have smashed some of my trees - im not worried because it causes them to coppice but if only planting a few a deer or two can be real bad news as im sure you know.

If you are not planning on protecting them you will still be paying for the stuff from the woodland tryst - unless of course its 100% grant - mine was not and by the time all things were factored in it was cheaper to buy it all myself.

I also planted things like wild cherry / bird cherry and wild privet for winter feeding.

 

Its very very addictive once you start - i think we are up to circa 75 k and just starting to see the results as some are up to 14/16 ft 

 

[Windswept]

2 minutes ago, jall25 said:

Defo avoid the sycamore - they are invasive non native 

Non native but they've been here a long time, is sweet chestnut native? I've also found syc not that invasive in many places and I view it as a reasonable replacement for ash if you want to harvest firewood.

Agree with the wild and bird cherry.

[jall25]

4 minutes ago, Windswept said:

Non native but they've been here a long time, is sweet chestnut native? I've also found syc not that invasive in many places and I view it as a reasonable replacement for ash if you want to harvest firewood.

Agree with the wild and bird cherry.

Sweet chestnut i think is a species they are not so sure about - i didnt plant any 

Sycamore will take over a wood - it is terrible for overshading 

9 minutes ago, Windswept said:

Non native but they've been here a long time, is sweet chestnut native? I've also found syc not that invasive in many places and I view it as a reasonable replacement for ash if you want to harvest firewood.

Agree with the wild and bird cherry.

Maybe use field maple instead of sycamore 

[jall25]

28 minutes ago, Ultrastu said:

I see no Ash  trees on your list .

Ash grows well and rather quickly .

And since we as a nation have been losing so many .it would be nice to plant some .

Its suggested at the moment not to plant any as so much of it is just going to die - then hopefully the trees that survive will be immune or able to recover and be part of future planting schemes - may take decades however 

[islandgun]

Can recommend  BTCV Woodlands [now called tcv]. A complete series of practical conservation methods and advice, I have several from the series and happily notice they are fetching 3x the amount i paid..😉 

 

[Walker570]

2 hours ago, oowee said:

I am getting a grant for it. There is a scheme through the woodland trust. 

Does that give them permission to 'use' your wood.  I am not a lover of the Woodland Trust. I have seen a couple of woods devastated by their open policy for the public.

My wood was planted through the Farm Woodland scheme and apart from an occasional call from a Forestry Commision rep to confirm it is still a wood I have had no interference.   I don't believe the same FW scheme is still running.

I would not plant sycamore.  The ash die back has killed 95% of the young trees in my wood, these where self seeded, probably a couple of thousand so I would not plant ash, just let it self seed and hopefully some will be immune and survive.  Plant so hazel as well for the woodmice I underplanted some 400 and have now coppiced some.

My original plantation was poplar as I was to old to wait for other trees to form a wood. I thinned these and planted oaks and maples, some willow and white poplar around the ponds.  Also planted clusters of firs, various kinds and put in a couple of patches of laurels which the birds love.  Walnuts have been carried down into the wood and I have at least a dozen trees now growing away.   This adds to the variety.

One or two members on here have had the pleasure of a stroll through the wood and I believe can attest to its success.

Edited October 6, 2022 by Walker570

[jall25]

2 hours ago, Walker570 said:

Does that give them permission to 'use' your wood.  I am not a lover of the Woodland Trust. I have seen a couple of woods devastated by their open policy for the public.

My wood was planted through the Farm Woodland scheme and apart from an occasional call from a Forestry Commision rep to confirm it is still a wood I have had no interference.   I don't believe the same FW scheme is still running.

I would not plant sycamore.  The ash die back has killed 95% of the young trees in my wood, these where self seeded, probably a couple of thousand so I would not plant ash, just let it self seed and hopefully some will be immune and survive.  Plant so hazel as well for the woodmice I underplanted some 400 and have now coppiced some.

My original plantation was poplar as I was to old to wait for other trees to form a wood. I thinned these and planted oaks and maples, some willow and white poplar around the ponds.  Also planted clusters of firs, various kinds and put in a couple of patches of laurels which the birds love.  Walnuts have been carried down into the wood and I have at least a dozen trees now growing away.   This adds to the variety.

One or two members on here have had the pleasure of a stroll through the wood and I believe can attest to its success.

 

Sounds nice Waker 

The woodlands trust supported me with about 10 acres or so - on one plot before i found it cheaper to do it myself

In fairness to them they were great and said they would come and do a check annually to see if trees needed replacing - they have not been once in 4/5 years

 

[London Best]

Listen to Neville @Walker570. 
He has previous experience of this and definitely knows what he is talking about.

[sandspider]

I've planted about 500 trees around a paddock over the past 6 years. None too close to the house, an orchard in a clear patch, a few areas of densely planted alder, sweet chestnut and willow for coppicing... The wilder part I've planted fairly randomly, as I didn't want it to look too formal. I keep rides open, and replace dead trees with whatever I have to hand (or natural regen) but basically leave it to it. (Occasionally I cut back some of the brambles round certain trees, but there are plenty more for wildlife)

I wouldn't use the plastic tubes again, they break up and leave fragments of plastic everywhere, and mice / voles get under them and chew the trees. They also clog up with soggy grass in my experience. I probably wouldn't stake again either (WLT spec stakes), as various trees got stake dependent, then started to flop once they outgrew the stake. (Depending on the size of tree you're planting...). I used shorter stakes for the orchard trees, just for support at the base, and they've done much better. I also mulch them every so often. They were bigger trees to start with, to be fair.