About 30 years ago it was planted with trees (mainly Oak I think) and is now a good example of 'make your mind up' time.
Oak trees need plenty of light and space to grow. There is a good one in the foreground of the photo that would make a fine tree but not if left as it is. The ones surrounding need to be coppiced or pollarded to create a more structured woodland and release this Oak from shading. Not much work involved and all could be done quickly with these young saplings.
Other likely trees in this small field could be identified and the competing ones managed. The extra light would allow wildflowers to grow. If no intervention, then the likelihood is further loss of ground flora and a degenerating woodland.
There are new plantations springing up everywhere and I hope in future years that people are as keen to use a bow saw as they are a spade.
Lovely vigorous new woodland but will it get too shady?
Can you see the extra one?
You're right Philip, if wouldn't take much to thin out the trees, either by coppicing or by completely taking out a proportion of the trees, which could be done in semi random patches, to create glades, or more evenly e.g. every 3rd tree. It would then make sense to plant a few young trees as well to ensure varied ages of trees.
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a lot of simplistic &/or short term thinking about conservation around, with no consideration or planning for the complexities of ecosystems/habitats i.e. "plant a load of trees & it'll all be OK".