It has been a busy winter in the woods as we thin out trees that have died from Ash Die Back a disease that is sadly sweeping across the country’s woodlands.
What is Ash Die Back?
Ash dieback is a serious disease of ash trees caused by the fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. The disease causes leaf loss and crown dieback in affected trees and can lead to the death of the tree.
Where thinning has occurred we have been planting these areas up with other tree species such as Hornbeam, Oak, Sweet Chestnut & Field Maple, all of which are native trees and giving further diversity within the woods.
Ash produces good firewood so we have managed to sell this on to local log suppliers who have had high demand this winter!
We have also been doing much work planting hedges, gapping up & coppicing hedgerows.
What and why do hedgerow coppicing?
Hedgerow coppicing of old hedges helps to rejuvenate or restore them to achieve a continuous length of hedge. The stems are cut down to ground level to encourage vigorous regrowth from the base of the plant.
We have planted just over 1km of new hedging including the gapping up which will provide more wildlife corridors connecting our woods & helping to sequester carbon which is a process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide. Something hedgerows do at twice the rate of woodlands because of their three-dimensional structure.
Did you know?
England’s hedges already store 9m tonnes of carbon. Carbon also builds up on the soil surface through hedge litter and is drawn down and stored by earth worms. So all good stuff for helping with Climate Change!
We have also planted several hedgerow trees within these new hedges.
Nesting Season
The nesting season has now begun which runs from the beginning of March until the end of July so work in the woods has taken a pause so as not to disturb the birds.
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Visit Burrough Court
Live near Melton Mowbray or Oakham? Why not pop in, we’ve got a Coffee Shop managed by the Larder a 2nd site to their very successful shop in Oakham as well as somewhere to exercise your doggies, a dog park. Paws in the Park is the latest addition to Burrough Court and you will soon be able to book your sessions online on Paws in the Park’s website (soon to be open).