Woodland use

[Beatts]

Excellent, thanks Brambles

[Brambles]

You're welcome.
If you're into having a food source, swap a nice big pond for the well and put some fish in it. A pond would also attract wildlife, including the edible kind

[preparedsurrey]

Dig a basic long drop toilet, makes things much easier

Yep I'm jealous too....

[izzy_mack]

Like Brambles, I would be looking to plant fruit trees and things like hazel nuts, also if you have wild rasps or brambles, a little care to encourage more. I recall reading a book, from the library so don't have it to hand, think it was called forest gardening or maybe forest farming by, I think, Richard A D'hart.
Also encourage wild garlic etc. any herbs that will grow in shade/semishade.

[Catweazle]

I owned a woodland for a few years, mine was commercial Sweet Chestnut coppice, in an area of outstanding natural beauty as well as being a SSSI ( Site of Special Scientific Interest ). Due to the classification of the woodland I had to apply for consents from Natural England before doing major works there.

This wasn't as bad as it sounds, in fact they were very helpful.

Anyway, here I a copy of an email conversation I had with them re planting some different varieties. I hope it is of some use.



"Hi ******,




I'm glad that there is a possibility of introducing some more variety into my woods, it's so packed with Chestnut at present that little else can survive there. I have half a dozen Oaks, some nice Hornbeam pollards, a scattering of Silver Birch and to my knowledge 2 Field Maples. Plus of course the Sycamore which inhabits every spare space it can find and is going to find its way to my woodstove one day.




My idea is to widen the rides by coppicing the southern sides of them on short rotation to a depth of maybe 25 yards, this will allow much more light onto the rides and allow me to plant low trees and bushes between the coppice on the north sides of the rides.




There is very weak spindly coppice growth at the far north of my plot, in the valley overshadowed by the large standard trees there, so I'd like to plant something shade-tolerant there too, perhaps more holly.




I have a list of species I'd like to see in the woods:




Sweet Chestnuts (Castanea sativa)

Holly (Ilex aquifolium)

Oak (from acorns of existing standards)

Walnuts (Juglans regia)

Hornbeam

Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia)

Crab Apples (Malus sylvestris) - may have to be grafted onto acid-tolerant rootstock

Yew (Taxus bacata)

Hazel (Corylus avellana)

Hawthorn (Crateagus monogyna)

Field Maple (Acer campestre)

Blackberries (Rubus fruticosus)

Wild Strawberries (Fragaria vesca)

Guelder rose (Viburnum opulus)

Dog Rose (Rosa canina)

Raspberry (Rubus idaeus)

Elder




Some are already there, some not, they all have some food value either to mammals or birds or both. I welcome any additions to the list.




I'll write some more detail when I have a bit more time or better if you have any specific questions.




All the best,




*****















Hi *****,



This is certainly a good native list. The only exception I see is Walnut, which was introduced in early times, but unless this forms a major component, ie more than 5% I don’t have a problem with it. Hazel would be a good one to major on I suggest. Anything planted in would have to be of known providence, there are some good nurseries (such as Oakover near Ashford for example) who could supply local trees. As you recognise it would be important to match the soil conditions locally to the tree, as I recall the wood shows some pH variability. Dog’s mercury is an excellent indicator of where the base rich soils are.



I take 25 yards to be about 30 meters, which is a good width for a wide ride. It would be best to put forward your proposal on a scale map, showing the rides you would widen to this width and the impact on the wood. I suggest this is the next step – a good map with enough detail to know what is going where and the overall impact this would have. I assume you are still looking to coppice the remaining chestnut?



Best wishes

*****



***** *****

Kent Downs, Coast, Seas & Marshes Team

[Hamradioop]

I take 25 yards to be about 30 meters, What are they teaching them at school? 25 yards is around 22.86m, have they never heard of Duck Duck Go?

[munchh]

Having something like this that close to my house is exactly what im after, i would be there every spare min, even if i was just going to put up a tarp and have a brew the sooner you get your kids into it the better.
look up survival lilly on youtube and her bugout shelter, that would be the first thing i did.

[munchh]

Bug Out Camp: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL ... sPgP2GQaAs

[Beatts]

Thanks.

I was there today for the first time. It's a big plot and from what I can see is mostly pine trees with a few sycamores in there.

I need to have a better examination of plant life when they are in full leaf as I'm no good at tree identification in winter. I don't think there are any edible plants in there at all.

about a 1/3rd of the land is on a steep incline down to a fairly sizeable stream.

It's an idea spot for a bit of bushcraft in total seclusion.

[HBP]

There is a good chance there are a few deer kicking around amongst others

Do you have shooting rights?