Better Woodland

Woodland is being planted at ever increasing rates, often to offset carbon, to add interest to the landscape, to enhance biodiversity - all of which is laudable. We hope that all these newly planted woods deliver the promised benefits … but some is clearly being planted to secure grant money and little else, with no thought given to how the project will be managed in the years after planting, failure rates are high and results are often disappointing.

our approach : better by design

Unless a wood is being planted only to harvest timber it’s worth remembering that nature doesn’t grow in straight lines, so when planting woodland our approach is to ensure that your objectives are ingrained within the design of the wood and how it is planted. Rather than plant hundreds of trees in straight lines, willy nilly and with little or no thought to planting patterns, we’ll take time to plan how your woodland is planted, so you objectives are more likely to be realised.

our appoach : GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Whatever your objectives, woodland should still be able to deliver real biodiversity benefits and to maximise these we take into consideration the factors that most influence biodiversity in woods; native and deciduous trees, rather than non-native and coniferous; the quality of light beneath the dominant tree canopy; the structural diversity of the woodland (i.e. the number of micro-habitats, determined by tree species and how the woodland is managed); the age of the woodland and the duration of continual woodland cover. It’s also likely we’ll encourage some fruit trees to be part of any planting scheme, so environmental benefits arise more quickly; fruit trees are ‘early senescent’, meaning they grow old quickly so they generally offer biodiversity benefits more quickly than the 40 or so years that it takes deciduous trees to do the same.

Our quotation to plant your woodland won’t be the cheapest, but if your objective is more than simply a matter of numbers then please contact us to discuss your project: call David Lindgren on 07710 777661, email david@cotswoldfruit.co.uk or fill in the form below.