Tree Planting & Aftercare

Walter\'s Wood \"Early days\"

Written by WH Thursday, 31 January 2008 12:00

Walter Start is delighted with progress in the Woodland Heritage sponsored wood, which he planted in November 2003 (and which was reported extensively in last year’s journal). He described the 95% uptake of the young trees as“remarkable”.

Nevertheless, as the photo shows, Walter is concerned about the dominance of the wheat and grasses on this former agricultural land, and will soon be treating these with “Kerb” granules. If they don't do the trick he will spray them off in the early summer.

Walter is not concerned with the presence of herbaceous weeds at this stage because “they will create shade around the roots of the young oaks and help them through a dry summer – if there is one.”

Next autumn, Walter is planning to remove the spiral tree guards because they tend to trap leaf debris around the root collars, which then causes them to get too wet in winter. “They will have done their job by then.”