Native Forestry
- Planning
- Planting
- Protecting
Planning, Planting and Protecting
Go Native
Spring in the Woods
Bursting into Life
The gradual increase in temperature and light levels within woodlands in spring is the signal for many plants to burst into life. The very rapid growth of bluebell, wild daffodil, wild garlic and other geophytes is nature's way of ensuring that these woodland species have enough energy to quickly complete their lifecycles before the tree canopy closes and the understorey becomes too shady for most plants to grow.
The spectacular displays of bluebells in May are one of Britain's best known and loved natural features. There is a good chance that Britain possesses more than 25% of the European population, but the woodlands are frequently in poor condition owing to their fragmented nature, lack of appropriate management and introduction of alien invasive species such as the Spanish bluebell and Rhododendron ponticum.
Maintenance of young plantations needs to be carefully timed so that the fast-growing grasses and weeds don't outcompete and smother the saplings. Herbicide spraying is usually carried out in late spring, although mowing between the rows should wait until late summer, when ground-nesting birds such as the skylark and lapwing have raised their broods.
Ancient Coppice Woodlands
The lack of appropriate management has been particularly damaging to ancient coppice woodlands, which had previously been subjected to a long continuum of human intervention. The periodic cutting of coppice in specific areas of an ancient woodland might seem like a drastic thing to do, but this process regenerates the trees and allows numerous different habitats to exist within a relatively small area.
The response of woodland ground flora to the sudden increase in light levels following coppicing can be amazingly colourful, particularly within ash-field maple-dog's mercury woodlands on more fertile soils and where dog's mercury itself doesn't dominate the ground layer vegetation. Unlike in ancient oak woodlands that typically have large swathes of bluebells with a lesser abundance of other species, ash-field maple-dog's mercury woodlands can possess a large variety of different woodland flowers in a relatively small area. Species such as wood anemone, lesser celandine, primrose, common dog-violet, wild garlic and yellow archangel form mosaics of contrasting colours. Occasionally, less common plants such as early-purple orchid and herb-paris are found.
Hedgerows
Hedgerows throughout much of lowland Britain have replaced the original native woodlands as the most extensive woody habitat, and are very important to many types of wildlife in an often barren agricultural landscape. Unfortunately, thousands of miles of hedgerows were ripped out during the intensification of agriculture after the Second World War and are only now being replanted on a large scale. The regeneration of neglected hedgerows through the process of hedgelaying is also being encouraged through government grant funding. If you would like new hedgerows planted from the start of next winter, please contact us.
A newly planted hedgerow typically contains around 80% hawthorn and 20% of minor species such as blackthorn, hazel, field maple and dogwood. This mix of woody plants is more beneficial to wildlife and more closely resembles the character of ancient hedgerows, although much less species-rich. Ancient hedgerows are those in existence before the Enclosures Acts, which were first passed during the early 1700s. The number of ancient hedgerows varies from county to county, with Devon and Cornwall possessing a significant proportion of the total.
Waking Up Slowly
This time of the year is characterised by many wildlife species becoming more active as the daylight hours become longer and the temperature generally starts to increase. In the case of some birds, mammals and all British bats, a state of temporary hibernation known as torpor is used in order to conserve energy when the temperature drops and the animals are unable to forage for food.
The unpredictable British weather seems particularly noticeable in spring, with 'all four seasons in one day' sometimes an apt description! Despite these sudden climatic changes, native flora and fauna are remarkably resilient since they have been subjected to these conditions for thousands of years and have gradually adapted to them. Although late spring frosts can cause damage to native plant species, they are rarely killed by them, unlike many tender garden plants, which need to be artificially protected in order to survive.
Contact
18 Main Street, Ticknall
Derbyshire, DE73 7JZ
Tel/ Fax: 01332 862330
