Cairn Wood early History part 1

 Cairn Wood early History part 1

The area of Cairn Wood was literally bought off a man in a pub in 2007. I had been looking for a small wood to own for a long time. There are very few woods in the Trent Valley as it is mostly arable or pasture. I decided I would plant my own. The field had been planted with Basket willow, which had been neglected. The 8 acres were covered in a tangle of Willow much of which was 12 ' high and on 6" trunks.

Cairn wood during the clearing of the willow.

 I have no photos of the area before I started clearing it. The picture gives an idea of what was there. It also explains why I thought it would give me a source of outdoor exercise. I also thought it would provide an interest in my forthcoming retirement.
I had no clear vision of what I was going to do. Clearing the site was a first step and would provide time for me to decide what to plant.

Miscanthus. (Elephant grass)

Willow grown for power stations

Growing Biomass was, in my opinion the sensible thing to do. The government provided grants for Willow coppice and Miscanthus, a fast growing large grass. Both of these required specialist harvesting equipment. Contractors were not going to prioritise a mere 8 acres. The heavy clay soil would mean tractors might not be able to get on the land. The willow was full of canker, so short rotation forestry was chosen, which could be felled and processed by myself. The tree would be grown for a few years and could be cut down and dragged out, for cutting up for logs. Eucalyptus were the obvious species of tree. Potentially giving twice the calorific value per acre of willow. Initially several species were planted to see which did best.  

Cairn Wood some of the surviving original Eucalypts can be seen in the back ground. They were planted 2008. The Oaks in the foreground were planted 2012. The photograph is 2019. 

 I have been a climate change pessimist since the 1980's, and started with two ideas. The first was that just because a tree has grown well somewhere for the previous 2,000 years did not mean it would grow well  there in 200 years time.  At the time this was not the accepted wisdom. The clamour was for native trees from local sources. The Second idea was that most trees will grow in most places if given a start, whether they thrive is a different issue. 

Eucalypts have had mixed fortunes, but have proved to produce the most dry weight and therefore calories. 

Potting On Sept 27 2021

Potting On Sept 27 2021

100 cell grown Douglas fir and 100 Sessile Oak were delivered on Wednesday. They have now all been potted on. Though not quite to the original plan. 

Douglas Fir in 500ml Cells

The advantage of Cell grown trees is the that they can be planted at any time of year, weather being the only restriction. Their disadvantage is that they tend to have an underdeveloped root system compared to the size of the shoot. They are likely to fall over and are subject to increased drought stress. To counter act this I like to pot them on as soon as the nursery is prepared to release them. These trees arrived on Wednesday 22nd. They were probably lifted on Monday. To get them all potted on within the week is O.K. The weather is still warm enough for them to make root growth, and they have not had time to put out new roots which will get damaged during the repotting.

Sessile Oak going into pint pots.

It had been hoped that some containers with trees, that were supposed to be planted in the spring  would be available. They were not planted because of the dry weather. Petrol shortage meant that Muslin "pots" were hastily assembled, to make up for the short fall. Going shopping was considered a risk with a nearly empty tank!

Home made muslin Pots.

The Oak on the left can be seen to be making new roots. These are what I am trying to help establish. They do suggest the trees were only just potted on at the optimum time.

Tidying up the Weeds

 

Tuesday 21st Sept 2021

Today was spent on and around the Atlantic Plateau at Cairn Wood. A small area raised with clay from else where. Originally planted with Atlantic cedar, Wild Service, Birch and Eucalypts in 2016. The job for the day was to cut down the Thistles, Willow herb, Teasel, and Nettles and find the trees. The area has been rather neglected since the trees established. Deer have browsed the Cedars in particular and only one is significantly taller than the 70 cm tree guards. The birch have been frayed and suffered from drought. All the trees have suffered from the competition from the Herb layer, illustrating why trees take a long time to establish on a fertile site. All the trees were around 2 feet tall when planted so seedlings would have had no chance. The Eucalypts got above the herb layer early and have rocketed away. They were sown November 2015 so will actually be a year younger than the other trees.

When the weeds were cut down there were more trees than I had thought. Six were missing completely but there were six Cedars which had been invisible. They were only as tall as the guards but should recover, if I can extend the guards. The problem at the moment is the ground is too hard to get a cane in. As they were protected by high unpleasant weeds and there were no tracks through it, I had assumed deer had been going round it. There were also two forgotten Japanese Red Cedars which had been planted to replace Atlantic Cedars which had died.

                                                        Atlantic Plateau at Cairn Wood

The Eucalypts have some seed pods, When they are ripe I will cut off the branches and collect the seed. If the seed is viable then the trees can come down. They make excellent fire logs. They need to come out to give the other trees a chance, and soon to reduce the collateral damage when they do!

Why is it when I know I am going into 5’ high nettles I wear a short sleeved shirt?