A new wood

[Stan]

Wifey and I planted 500 saplings at the start of 2021 (called the bird mix) plus about 40 more which we had nurtured ourselves. After the panic to water them following a very dry April, here are a few photos of progress.



Roughly 24 have reared their heads above the 4ft tubes and 2 more have definitely died. Above is a mountain ash or rowan.



Above cherry.



Above birch.



Above, another mountain ash.

Each tube has an incumbent spider and often lots of prey. Each tube becomes a perch for a bird to poop down. Some of the saplings have their leaves eaten by insects.
The tubes are of 5 diameters so that they can be delivered inside each other. It’s a micro-climate in there and the saplings in the narrower tubes can have their leaves pressed hard against the sides in a layer of condense. So the trees in the wider tubes are better off.
This effect is even more obvious with the spiral transparent tubes where the occupants (hazel, hawthorn,wild rose and elder) look really cramped. We’ve taken pity on some of these and cut the spirals to half height (1ft) or just unwound the top half to give them air, as below.

[AE-NMidlands]

2 more "new" woods described here:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... tudy-finds

Half the trees in two new English woodlands planted by jays, study finds

Former fields were naturally regenerated with oak trees growing from acorns buried by the birds
Broughton said the study of emerging woodland at Monks Wood, a former research station for groundbreaking ecological studies, demonstrated the value of scrub.

“We call it scrub like it should be scrubbed away but it’s shrubland. It’s like a wildlife fest – covered in blossom, full of warblers. It’s just a really nice place to be,” he said.

“The thing which really stood out is unlike with planting, natural regeneration creates this essential first stage of shrubby development – a thicket of brambles and hawthorn sown by thrushes and a natural tree-guard against the browsers such as deer.”

Trees in both the naturally regenerating woodlands grew rapidly despite large numbers of wild deer in the area, including roe and invasive muntjac, and a series of droughts over the years.

I am pleased to see that they highlight the value of thorny scrub in providing havens for small wildlife and protecting saplings from browsing by deer.
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