Planting a New Woodland on Peaty Soil

MysticZephyr184

Hello,

I am looking for ideas to plant a woodland on an acre and a half field site located in an area of raised bog in the west of Ireland. The soil is peaty but is well grassed over.

There is already alder, birch, hawthorn and what I think is willow growing in various places in the field. Some parts of it the trees are very dense and nearly impenetrable. The site is also being encroached on multiple sides by thick brambles.

Ideally, I would like to plant three different types of forestry on the site - a native Irish woodland for biodiversity, a small woodland for coppicing timber and biodiversity and a small orchard for food and biodiversity.

From my preliminary research into coppicing it would appear alder and the two birch species (downy and silver) lend themselves well to it as do all the willow species of which I am fairly sure there are a few in the site.

I'm looking for feedback on my ideas (the orchard and native woodland part too) and where they could be improved on or added to?

Thank you

Spear

Confirm your email address so you can post properly, then I'll move this to a forum that's actually related to the topic instead.