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Into the woods

Celebrating National Tree Week across our woodlands

Lee working on the Slimbridge Estate in Gloucestershire

Little Dalby landscape

Inspecting hedgerows at Low Beckside Farm, Cumbria

Harvesting cricket bat willows on our Fairford Estate, Gloucestershire

 

Tree planting alongside HS2 in Buckinghamshire

Stabiliser cattle mob grazing on the Fairford Estate

Replacing trees lost to ash dieback and planting new saplings on pasture are helping to increase the tree cover on land managed by The Ernest Cook Trust, as forestry workers around the country mark National Tree Week. (23 November to 1 December)

Woodland managers Joseph on the Home Estates in Gloucestershire, Michael at Little Dalby in Leicestershire and Lee at Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, all face similar challenges in caring for the landscape.

But all three are upbeat about the work that is being done to look after our woodlands – and the benefits that planting trees brings to the wider landscape.

Silvopasture projects 

Silvopasture projects, the practice of combining livestock grazing with growing timber, are underway on the Little Dalby, Fairford Park, and Hatherop Estates, in partnership with farm tenants. On the Slimbridge Estate, Lee is leading a project to improve the habitat for wildlife in a woodland pasture with a large number of mature trees.

Joseph is working with tenant farmers Jeremy Iles and Jeremy’s daughter Sophie on a plan to explore possibilities to plant trees to restore historic parkland, without losing the ability of the grassland to support cattle. Michael is engaged in a similar scheme on in-hand farmland at Little Dalby, in partnership with a farm tenant.

Joseph said the proposals marked a return to what was once a traditional way of grazing livestock among trees. He said there were benefits for the cattle, which can gain nutritionally from the limited browsing of the trees, once they have become established. He and Jeremy are studying old OS maps for details of where trees were once planted on the Home Estates to recreate some of the wooded pastures of the past.

There is also evidence that methane emissions are reduced in cattle grazing in wooded pasture and significant environmental and wildlife benefits, providing habitat for a range of creatures and capturing more carbon that either pasture or woodland alone.

At Little Dalby, meanwhile, Michael explained the multi-layered value of Silvopasture.

It’s about stacking multiple land uses on one site, combining grazing with timber production, biodiversity improvements, good hydrology of the soil and public access. The land is in-hand on the Estate and we’re working in partnership with a tenant farmer who is helping to deliver the scheme.

Habitat Management

On the Slimbridge Estate, Lee is putting together a habitat management plan for the 85-acre Redwood Outdoor Learning Centre woodland, an ancient forest that is recorded in the Domesday Book. The site extends to pasture dotted with trees. He will be creating wildlife corridors with tree and hedge planting, putting in cover crops to attract wild birds and sowing wildflower seeds for pollinators.

He said: “It is important that you have both the habitat and the food in the same place so that pollinators aren’t using up energy searching for food.  To keep them thriving you have to have shelter and food together, all year round.”

Lee has recently taken on an Apprentice Woodland Ranger, Jake. “It’s good for me to have somebody who is young and keen working with me – it inspires me and makes me eager to drive on. I’m keen to pass on my knowledge,” he added.

Replanting following ash dieback

Surveying ash trees for signs of dieback (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus), deciding which need to be felled for safety reasons and which are showing strong signs of disease resistance and can stay, is a priority on all The Ernest Cook Trust’s Estates.

A large stand of ash trees in the Stable and Bluebell sections of the Redwood Outdoor Learning Centre woodland at Slimbridge had to be virtually cleared for safety reasons because of ash dieback, with trees aged from 150 years to 350 years coming down. The site regularly hosts large groups of children and young people for Outdoor Learning sessions.“It’s the last thing you want to do, but we couldn’t take any chances,” Lee said. The timber did not go to waste. After felling it was used for furniture making.

On the Home Estates, Joseph agreed it was essential to remove ash trees that could be a danger and replace them with alternative native species with high wildlife value, including rowan, crab apple, field maple and oak. At Slimbridge the ash stands have also been replanted with a wide variety of hardwoods, to reduce the risk that new diseases might wipe out a single species.

Some ash trees are coping better than others with the impact of dieback and all three foresters believe it is important to keep those that are successfully containing the disease to save their seed for future planting, to build resistance to dieback.

Joseph pointed out that ash is an important species for supporting many other plants and animals, playing host to an incredible 955 species – 45 of which survive only on ash trees, putting those species in grave danger if ash dies out completely. Joseph said:

Ash trees are a dominant species in the South West, especially on the limestone, and we’ve got a lot of them. As far as possible we are working reactively, examining them tree by tree, rather than taking them all out.

New uses for timber

Many tree species are, however, thriving on the Home Estates, including fast-growing willow which is being harvested by J.S. Wright & Sons. The company describes itself as the “world’s largest and oldest established company supplying English cricket bat willow.”

The willow is planted and harvested as part of a long-established rotation, with a tree taking between 15 and 25 years to come to maturity.  The trees must be managed as they grow, removing any side shoots to make for a good straight trunk for the best bats.

Joseph said: “In timber production terms the time it takes for a willow to reach maturity is really very quick – after about 25 years the quality starts to decrease, and they are at risk of splitting or blowing over.”

He said there were willow trees at different stages of maturity alongside the Broadwater on the Fairford Estate and the team from J.S. Wright and Sons had a regular supply of timber from which bats are made.

Another traditional use for timber – charcoal making – is also about to undergo a revival on the Estate. Working with Outdoor Learning Officer, Pete, Joseph is hoping that an old ring kiln can be restored and put to good use. He said it might be possible to sell the charcoal or use it for outdoor cookery demonstrations.

Rather better-quality timber – oak that was milled and put into storage some years ago – is also about to be put to good use in our Learning Workship by our Outdoor Learning Officer Pete where it will be turned into benches for placing in the spiritual garden of a school The Ernest Cook Trust works with.

Planning for the future

At Little Dalby Michael is working on the restoration of a scheduled ancient monument on the estate, a moated area called The Grange, believed to have been the grain store of an 11th century hospital that once stood nearby. Non-native conifers planted on the monument are gradually being removed and replaced with oaks, with the aim of turning the area back to wood pasture.

Michael said he is also planning for the start of the next ten-year rolling programme of forestry management on the Estate, including planting trees and putting in new hedgerows.  But he said it was important to do it properly. 

That means the right tree, in the right place at the right time and for the right reason

Lee agreed that planting trees is just the start of the process. He said a changing climate and the growing threat from pests and diseases made professional woodland management essential for the future of the UK’s tree cover. “Anyone can plant a tree,” he said.  “The key is to keep on looking after that tree to make sure it gets the best chance to grow and thrive.”

That’s a message that rings true for those caring for woodland across all our estates. Our Cumbrian farm, Low Beckside, is home to conifer plantations and mixed species woodlands, including some ancient and veteran trees.

Tree planting of a different kind has been happening on our Hartwell Estate in Buckinghamshire, where native hardwoods and shrub species are helping to screen Whaddon Hill Farm from HS2, which now occupies land previously farmed by a farming tenant.  The new planting provides a valuable wildlife corridor, connecting two established woodland blocks, and will provide a fantastic habitat to local ecology.

Challenges for all foresters include climate change, particularly wet spring weather and summer droughts and heatwaves, which can stress trees and impact on them for many months – even years. Disease and expanding populations of deer and grey squirrels are also an issue and managing the mammals is vital, especially when new plantings are being established.

Property Director Michael Birnie said: “Our woodland management plan features the creation of wood pastures and re-planting of mixed species in place of our plantations. We’re working hard to reinstate hedgerows – by the end of 2024 we will have planted 50,000 hedgerow plants and trees creating approximately 6,800m of hedgerows. We will also have recreated several traditional orchards.”

All this, with the aim of increasing biodiversity, creating shelter for our livestock and safeguarding our Outdoor Learning spaces for years to come.