The Woodlands.co.uk Blog - Practical Guides
Feed The Birds?
Whilst it always good to see wildlife in a natural setting, such as a woodland, it is also good to encourage wildlife in our gardens. Read more…
Deadwood
Traditionally woodland was kept “clean” by clearing away fallen timber. However, nowadays it is recognised that deadwood has an important part to play in forest management.
Woodlands and Taxation
Woodland ownership can have some useful tax advantages. The taxation of forestry /woodland has always been fairly generous to encourage people to purchase woodland and to spend money on management.
How to Lay a Hedge
Hedges are an important part of our countryside, yet they are functional too. The use of hedges goes back hundreds of years (perhaps more) and is an effective way to keep in livestock and mark boundaries. They also have very important benefits for wildlife as they are home to many nesting birds, small mammals and many insects. Apart from being a habitat they also provide a corridor for the movement of animals across field systems and between woodland areas. Landowners need to maintain them but sometimes they get out of control (the hedges rather than the land owners) and once they reach over 4 metres in height they start to encroach upon fields and become “gappy” at the base. It is at this point that they need to be laid - ideally by an experienced hedge layer.
Rosehip Syrup
After a pretty dull and rainy summer, the woodlands and hedgerows are glowing with colour as berries ripen and mushrooms spring up overnight. Autumn is my favourite time of year in the woods and already I’m looking to experiment with a little more than the usual blackberries, which, as always, are juicy and plentiful. Read more…
Horse Chestnut Woes! - Dealing with disease
Back in 2006, the Woodlands blog commented on the problems facing horse chestnuts, namely disease ( leaf miner moths, leaf blotch fungus, bleeding canker) and drought. The last of these may have disappeared for the time being as we have just experienced one of the wettest Augusts on record, however bleeding canker and the leaf miner continue to be problematical and are spreading.
Sheds in Woodlands
We did a survey on sheds for storage amongst woodland owners and although the sample is small the results were interesting ……
What is the Forestry Commission and How Does It Affect Woodland Owners?
The Forestry Commission is a government department whose main functions are to manage most of the forestry land owned by the government and to regulate the UK’s privately owned forests and woodlands. It also has a significant research branch headquartered at Alice Holt on the Surrey/Hampshire border. The Commission was set up in 1919 after the First World War with the twin aims of developing a reliable source of timber and creating employment in the forestry sector.