Everything has grown, again. The trees planted last year seem to have done fine. I’ve added a few this year, mostly hedging. Some of the faster growing 2015 trees, such as alder and silver birch, now need to have their tree shelters removed as they’re getting tight around the trunks.
I’ve spent a lot of time sorting out the hedges that surround Upton Bottom Woods, removing a few dead trees and a lot of brambles and planting suitable species of shrubs and trees to fill the gap.
At Upton Bottom there are about two acres of trees which were planted around 20 years ago. They’re quite close together and there’s some fast-growing species there (especially bird cherry and ash). They’ve grown quite tall and spindly as they compete for the light, consequently they have narrow canopies and narrow root systems, making them vulnerable to wind-throw. They are also out-competing some of the slower growing species such as oak. The solution to this is to thinh trees out gradually over the years, allowing their neighbours to expand and thrive. To this end I’ve learnt to use a chainsaw, I recently completed a weekend course at The Woodland Skills Centre. I’m currently using a battery chainsaw which is quite adequate and is quieter, cleaner, less smelly then a petrol equivalent (as well as easier to maintain with less to go wrong).
Some of my apple trees are old enough to be a little bit productive now, I harvested about 150 apples in the autumn from about 15 trees. There are many more trees but most of them aren’t old enough or big enough yet. I’m experimenting to find out which varieties of apple store well, some of them have lasted into March in reasonable condition. Pears, cherries, plums and various “exotics” have been very limited so far.
Nature continues around the man-made woodland. I see deer most times that I’m there, grey squirrels continue to strip bark from trees. Voles nest in tree shelters and occasionally gnaw through the base of young trees, killing them or at best coppicing them. No signs of bats using my bat boxes yet. It’s hard to tell whether the bird boxes are in use other than by squirrels which have been gnawing them. An owl regularly swoops low over the field at dusk. Fungi flourishes at this time of year – decay amongst the mature trees is welcome as a part of the natural cycle. Ants build hills and regularly build vertical nests in spiral guards which occasionally buries and kills small trees.
Voles have been eating cherry stones 
decay is part of the natural cycle 
Getting too big for their tree shelters 
Everything has grown