Best approach to putting in a wood

Dinzee Conlee

Howdy folks,

Would appreciate your input on something...

I have some scrubby ground that I am going to put some trees on... Its mainly covered with ferns, with some briars - see pics below

I had planned to clear it with a digger but I am rethinking this approach.

The main reason for rethinking is, I cleared some ground similar to this to put in grass-seed a few years back, and its been a battle with briars and furze since. Mainly furze...
My worry would be if I cleared the ground, and put in trees - would I just be creating a rod for my own back if furze came in when I had the trees planted?

Would I be better off trying to plant into the ferns as they are now - although not 100% sure how feasible this would be? Its ok to walk across now, but planting a few 100 trees might be a different story
So, maybe I fooling myself into thinking it could be done without clearing it?

The site is not very accessible for machinery, as its on steep slope - a tracked digger would just about do, a tractor would not...

Not in any major rush to do it.

Interested to hear your opinions on what my best plan of action would be...

Thanks...

Edit : Not sure why the second pic displays sideways?

gozunda

Should be doable alright.

Spot clear wear you want to plant and use quick growing varieties maybe 2 plus year old saplings trees.

If you plant in the Autumn / winter - best plant bare root trees. These are better value as well.

Easiest way to plant up ground like that is to use the T Cut method.

Basically clear back vegetation at least a foot all round then use a spade to make a T cut in the sod. Lever up the points of the sod with the spade and insert the tree with the stem at the centre point of the tee-cut.. Splay out the roots as needed and tamp down the sod around the stem. You can get through planting a fair few trees this way.

Use tree guards to protect the trees from damage by hares etc. If you plant at a slightly higher density - the extra trees will help shade out the other vegetation

Alternatively fence with electric fencing suitable for pigs and let them get on with clearing the site. Once they've done the job remove them and start planting...

Best of luck with it.

Birdnuts

DAFM should be encouraging other folks to put native woodland on such sites were conventional farming makes little sense. Other benefits include stabilizing slopes, providing shelter and improving water quality etc.

blue5000

Birdnuts wrote: »

DAFM should be encouraging other folks to put native woodland on such sites were conventional farming makes little sense. Other benefits include stabilizing slopes, providing shelter and improving water quality etc.

Is the native woodland scheme still going?

Dinzee Conlee

blue5000 wrote: »

Is the native woodland scheme still going?

I don’t know Blue - I applied and got permission to plant it, but it wasn’t the native woodland scheme...

NcdJd

As gozunda said dinzee I'd be planting them straight into the ground as it is. Just clear around the area your the tree is going in with the spade.

Dinzee Conlee

If planted straight in - would I need to clear the ferns from them during the summer? Just stomp them down or similar?

So I assume I’d need a stake or a marker in beside them - just so I could find...

Would a bamboo cane do the job?

Also, how would I know if I should put rabbit guards on them?
We have some rabbits about all right, I wouldn’t say a huge amount - but is any number enough to warrant doing the job right and putting on the tree guards?

NcdJd

Dinzee Conlee wrote: »

If planted straight in - would I need to clear the ferns from them during the summer? Just stomp them down or similar?

So I assume I’d need a stake or a marker in beside them - just so I could find...

Would a bamboo cane do the job?

Also, how would I know if I should put rabbit guards on them?
We have some rabbits about all right, I wouldn’t say a huge amount - but is any number enough to warrant doing the job right and putting on the tree guards?

I would use wood. Your staking them to stop them rocking on the wind. What i do now for say small whips is hammer a 2x2 length of wood in beside it after planting, get two cable ties. Tighten on around the stake and then use this to hold the other cable tie around the main stem. Not too tight.

If you got any rolls of chicken wire lying around you could snip a strip long enough to go around tree and stake. Use the end you snipped to tie it together.

I don't know about the ferns. In grass people say to make sure it's cut but I always leave it be. But the ferns might be a different kettle of fish altogether.

Red Sheds

I find that those ferns grow like mad in the summer, I have a patch where I planted a whitethorn hedge 4 years ago and they are a plague. They can grow to 6 foot and grow very densely. I've sprayed them, tramped them down, cut them and they still come back. My hedge hasnt taken off and I am planting a few trees each year instead. So I would clear a good amount of ground around where you plant each tree to make sure they don't get shaded out.

Birdnuts

blue5000 wrote: »

Is the native woodland scheme still going?

AFAIK - Yes

JJayoo

Are there many deer in your area? Bastards can do a lot of damage in a few seconds.

If you are happy to do this, personally I would either try and source bigger trees and put drainage pipes around as guards, or a cheaper option would be to buy 100 1 year old trees of your choice and grow them in a ridge until they reach a size big enough to plant out.

I have been doing this with oak trees as I need to plant them in fields grazed by sheep and need to keep those wooly demons away

Dinzee Conlee

JJayoo wrote: »

Are there many deer in your area? Bastards can do a lot of damage in a few seconds.

If you are happy to do this, personally I would either try and source bigger trees and put drainage pipes around as guards, or a cheaper option would be to buy 100 1 year old trees of your choice and grow them in a ridge until they reach a size big enough to plant out.

I have been doing this with oak trees as I need to plant them in fields grazed by sheep and need to keep those wooly demons away

Are you doing agroforestry Jayo?