Woodland

L1985

Hey guys posting this in farming but not sure if it should be in forestry.we have a 21acre 90year old native wood.its after going very wild since we fenced it off to cattle the last 15years.my dad won't hear of thinning it (looked into it got quotes etc but he refused point blank) it's got a lot of oak ash etc but at the moment it's just sitting there not really being of any benefit. Is there any grants or anything out there for older woods like that?dad's of the opinion that doing anything with it will cause more grief then it's worth but I was wondering is there anything out there or anyone I can contact to find out? I'm Finding the info on the native woodlands scheme a bit confusing and I think it's closed now?
Thanks for any pointers!

tabby aspreme

Take a look at the Prosilva website for some ideas, also Google continuous cover forestry for how to manage mature forestry .

ganmo

There's a similar wood here, only it's not native. Last year I was trying to convince the ould lad to drop a few trees in it. He was having none of it so I took the chainsaw and dropped about a quater of them most of them were rotten anyway. I did manage to get the ould lad to say it was a good job.

Still have to put up the fence though...

L1985

Yeah we have a lot of oak so couldn't chop a quater of it it could be professionally thinned but dad has a fit at the thought of it even though it's gone completely wild-we just use it for wood for the house. There's a lot of wildlife which I wouldn't want disturbed too much but at the same time id like it to be generating some sort of income or just to be doing something other theN Sitting there!!il check out that website though-thanks!! I wouldn't be able to cut it myself-wouldn't be very handy with a chainsaw and work full time

Greengrass1

13ac of natural wood here too. Alot of it is swampish tbh. But I doubt anything can be done with it. We'd get in awful trouble I'd say if we cleared it

il gatto

Pick an acre or two and clean it up. Take out stunted trees, briars etc. see what it looks like after a year. If it looks better, you father may be willing to get more done.
With regards the chainsaw, there's courses on them and loads of info on the net. Buy the right safety gear, only take on trees no wider than your leg and if you have looked up the right way of doing it, you should be safe enough.
You'd be amazed how much you'd get through with a few hours here and there. Like your father though, I hate cutting down any tree unless I really have to.

L1985

yeah that's an option clearing it ourselves its so big though we would have enough timber for the whole parish by the time I was done cutting all the old/diseased non native trees!! even just looking at the ones that have fallen its a big enough job and being honest I work full time and farm so wouldn't have the time for that type of job-we havnt had to cut down one in ages just gone after the fallen ones. I was hoping there would be some sort of grant or something out there that could give me justification for getting it cleared up as it is lovely wood and is a shame to see it going so wild. don't know how many native untouched ones are left in Ireland like! ah sure the birds and rabbits can enjoy a few more years of wilderness then it looks like! thanks everyone for the advice anyway and maybe if I get the time and get handy with a chainsaw

angusangus

Could you make a hard base area at the edge and a couple of round feeders ! Make a great wintering cover for weanlings ! They would come out super healthy

L1985

Hey-we used to leave the cattle in but we lost one or two and the fenced it off completely(15years ago)I'm looking at that again as an option but there is a woodland scheme out now that fences for you.problem is your talking about 20acres of woodland and it's gone so overgrown itl be fun to fence into sections. Still it's better then what it is currently just sitting there . Just making sure stock come out when you need to check them but it would be great cover for them espmas we still out winter some animals.

greysides

I think this wood get a better viewing in Forestry so I'm moving it there.