Three trees and a log shed

Sounds like a title for a film but it’s what I was doing yesterday plus a bit more bramble clearing. I was given three potted young birch trees by one of my brother-in-laws. He wanted a place for them as a tribute to his mother, father and brother who have passed on. So I found a suitable spot in my wood. It was heavily invested with bramble so I started out by clearing it with my brush cutter. The used a Canterbury hoe to rag out the remaining bramble roots before planting them. As I have deer visiting my woods it is necessary to protect them with plastic tree guards. So for now all you can see is the brown tubes. In a couple of years the young birch should have emerged from the tops and they can then have the guards removed.

The three newly planted young birch trees safely in their deer guards

I’ve been collecting wooden pallets and now have enough to build some sort of log store. The idea being, to season newly felled timber for a year before taking it home for burning in my woodstove. I was given two old sheets of corrugated roofing to help keep it dry. I got the body of the store built but needed some more spars to support the roof. Now don’t laugh when you see the ramshackle result of my hard labour. After all it just needs to be functional. I’m not competing for George Clarke’s “Shed of the Year”. Once completed I can disguise it’s obvious pallet components by propping up deadwood around the sides. The weather will soon subdue it’s newness too.

And the back of it with roof sheets waiting to ne fitted.

Finally I spotted this magnificent specimen and couldn’t resist showing you. Bet you wish you had one like this.

What a beauty

Another guest visit

Yesterday I took my brother in law Richard to see the wood. He follows in his father’s footsteps, being very interested in rural pursuits and wildlife etc. He has a good knowledge of woodland life in general and expressed an interest in seeing mine. It wasn’t the best weather to see it – gloomy, cold and quite windy at times. We had a good look around, he pointed out a few interesting things I hadn’t noticed then we had a brew with my little twig-fired Honeystove and ate our lunch. As usual a tiny wren appeared amongst the pile of old brushwood a few feet away. I guess it was lunchtime for it too as it bobbed here and there, picking at the sticks for insects and grubs.

We spent most of the afternoon re-sighting the misplaced border posts which have been incorrectly positioned at the lower half. It will give me a few extra metres wide of land over a length of about 70 metres which is quite significant. I will need to get approval by the land sales agent before actually moving the posts. We also felled a small rotten sycamore that had fallen and got hung-up. It was close to a ride so needed to be made safe. Two good jobs done.

Richard took quite a bit of interest in the hazel coppice so we spent some time looking at those. They are really ready for re-coppicing, some stems are very large and woody and only fit for firewood but there a numerous small rods which will make good hurdle material, walking sticks etc. He told me of an old guy who used to twist two thin growing rods together then after a few years, cut them to make beautiful twisted walking sticks. I’m going to try that one next time. I shall also start pegging down some of the smaller and flexible rods to layer them which will create new plants in a year or two. They can then be moved into the area I intend to replant.

Brush cutters and buzzards

Where’s the connection? Only that it was the two subjects that dominated my visit to my woods yesterday. On arrival I spotted a buzzard on the ground. When it saw me it flew up into one of the branches where it rested a few seconds before taking off. A fleeting but amazing sight. They are very big and impressive birds. Later in the day, I spotted one wheeling around, just above tree top height. I stopped to admire it then another and another came into view. I ran to get my camera and find a clearing so I could try to video them but it was too late. I know there has been a nesting pair somewhere in the greater woods where mine is a small plot and I feel it might have been not too far away as I have often seen or heard them. Maybe this was the young brood or the parents and juvenile.

Now onto the main subject – brush cutters. I have a big bramble problem due to lack of management in the past. It’s just about everywhere and where there are glades and sunlight is available, the brambles have taken advantage and grown to enormous proportions. Many parts of my wood are inaccessible because of them. When I first took ownership in June, my first job was to hack my way through some of it to make a pathway along the border. Using a machete was effective but slow and very hard work. So I bought a heavy duty brush-cutter and mulching blade. An ordinary nylon strimmer head won’t touch the bramble. The mulching blade is metal with three winged blades that turn up. It shreds as it cuts. Yesterday was my first “play” with my new toy. After reading the manual carefully and doing all it said, the machine wouldn’t start. I tried different throttle and choke settings and still no joy. I figured I may have flooded it so took out the spark plug, dried it and tried again. Eventually it fired up. Yesssss! So donning safety helmet, mesh face visor and ear defenders I hooked the machine onto the harness and headed for the wilderness. It took a while to get the feel and technique right and the heavy density and height of the brambles made it quite hard work. After about an hour and a half, I had cleared a good sized area. What a difference it made. Whereas the area was previously impossible to walk through and had an oppressive effect, it was now flat and clear and open, just strewn with chewed up plant material which should rot down. The area felt much larger than before, airy and lighter. It revealed several old tree stumps and a robin came down and landed on one to investigate the new look (and a possible meal). Can’t wait to get busy with more clearing in other areas. So much to do though, it will take a few years to truly get on top of it. I have to prioritise which areas to do first. Of course the brambles will sprout again next spring but it should be much easier to either dig up the roots or blitz them again with the machine. I can’t wait for spring now, to see what groundcover has been waiting for this opportunity of light and warmth so it can sprout again. See below for some before and after photos.

Area looking north before clearing with brush cutter

Same area after clearing

same area but looking west before clearing

looking west after clearing

A day with the Woodland Trust

My last visit a week ago, was a day event organised by the Woodland Trust. In case you don’t know about them, they are a charity devoted to saving our ancient woodlands. They do some sterling work, raising funds to buy up ancient woodlands when they come onto the market as a means of preserving them. Also campaigning against modern development on them. We have very little ancient woodland surviving in the UK and it’s very important that we retain and look after as much of it as possible. As they say, “once gone, it’s gone forever”. The ecology of ancient woodland cannot be created simply by planting new woods. It takes hundreds – thousands of years to build up the incredibly diverse biology of a woodland. The Trust has been given funding to run a project in Yorkshire to help and advise small woodland owners who own Paws (planted ancient woodlands) to protect and re-establish their woods back to ancient semi-natural status. Some of the owners where my wood exists have shown an interest and we have had visits from the project officer who has surveyed our plots and written brief management plans.

So last Saturday, he had organised talks from themselves and other local bodies like the naturalist society and local tree and hedgerow officer. We learned about the importance of ancient woodlands and how best to protect and enhance what we still have, a bit of history of the site and the flora and fauna species that have been observed there. A light buffet was provided then a mini bus to take us all into our woods for a walk-around to discuss specific issues. Proudly, I was host to the group in my small plot for a while due to it’s varied content. All in all it was a very interesting and enjoyable day. A quick look at my recently installed bird feeders showed some small activity has been going on but not much seed had gone yet. Early days.