...and the little wood I'd like to make.
For the past twenty years, the few acres in which this old oak stands have been left ungrazed.
It grows over a well and the field has on two sides old or even ancient hedgerows. The land is in the process of rewilding. Some young oaks have grown around the parent and I think there are hazels and maybe rowan and ash. Brambles are trying to male some headway in the grass.

The hedges are certainly colonising the field. I wasn't out there for long - but I imagine nettles, brambles and thistles are part of that pioneer front on the left of the image.
I would love to plant a few trees... natives, local natives... there's a type of tree, the Devon Whitebeam, which is becoming rare. It is great for invertebrates and birds - this plot could take maybe ten of them... Plus alder and elder... let the oak and ash have room to regenerate themselves. And the hazel and rowan... Maybe just 15 trees in total to plant, between the Whitebeam, alder and elder (a shrubby thing, really). Great for the animals, with all those berries and fruits and so on.
Oh wait, I just typed into Google trees native to Devon and guess what came up??? BLACK POPLAR!! That needs wet ground and there is a watercourse in this field!! Oh my!!!
Comments