I think yesterday’s visit was one of the most enjoyable yet. The sun shone all day and the temperature warmed enough to take my coat off. Some people might think that a woodland in winter is not very interesting and that it’s a time to take it easy until spring comes along. Far from it. There are a number of reasons that makes winter a great season to be in there. The trees are bare and you can really see the structure of the woodland. Walking around it is far easier and it gives you a chance to really study the trees, take stock of what you have, what might be diseased or poorly shaped and therefor candidates for some thinning out. The cooler temperature makes working more comfortable and no biting insects to pester you. It’s definitely a time to do some solid forestry work. And how satisfying that is too.

So yesterday I continued working on the south east corner where I cut the huge over-stood hazel a few weeks ago. I cut three more smaller ones back, a couple of youngish sycamore and one of the two large straggly holly trees that are shading out that corner. The area looks quite devoid of trees now. At first glance, it might appear that I have overdone it and created a bare piece of land but that’s not the case. The four hazel trees will hopefully recover by sending up lots of new shoots from the base. They need the extra light around them that the thinning out had created in order to photosynthesise and flourish. In a few years it will look entirely different again.

So what else is going on right now? Well the bluebell leaves have pushed through quite nicely. They are everywhere and spring is going to be very interesting this year. The hazel trees are covered in long catkins already. Some of the grasses are starting to grow again and there are various green patches of plants that I can’t identify yet. There’s a nice patch of young ash saplings which look about 2 years old. They weren’t so obvious in the summer but now you can see them clearly. They are in an area where there aren’t many trees, so they will be a welcome addition. I will try to transplant a few into other areas to fill some spaces. Due to the spread of ash dieback disease, it is not permitted to plant new trees or move them around the country. As there is no disease yet in my area and I am only moving them a few metres from one position to another in the same small woodland (my woodland) I see no harm done.