Plant your own woodland Eden
Create a leafy haven for wildlife on your land, and keep costs to a minimum, with help from the Woodland Trust
Trees can transform open land into a paradise for wildlife. In just a few short years, a young woodland will be filled with birdsong and blossom in spring. In summer, a rich green canopy casts cooling shade and in autumn, the branches will be heavy with nourishing nuts and berries.
If you have at least half a hectare of land spare but aren’t sure how to plant your own woodland, don’t worry – help is at hand. Conservation charity the Woodland Trust is offering expert advice, and a hefty contribution to the cost of planting.
The Woodland Trust’s MOREwoods scheme is open to anyone planning to plant 500 trees or more and offers grants of up to 75% of the total cost, thanks to funding from Lloyds Bank.
To make everything as easy as possible, the Woodland Trust can also help design the woodland, create a species mix, supply trees and protection, and arrange for contractors to do the planting. DIANA’S WOOD Diana Robertson’s home in beautiful PewseyVale, Wiltshire, backs on to a 0.8-hectare field. One day she began to wonder whether she could find a more rewarding use for her land.“It’s a lovely field,” she says.“We’d used it for meadow hay for years, but I started to think, why am I looking at this empty field?” Then Diana saw an advertisement for the Woodland Trust.“I realised there was an opportunity here to leave something for the next generation,” she says.
The Trust helped Diana design a woodland that preserved views towards nearby Martinsell Hill. Then, one December morning, Somerset-based arboriculturalist GarethWalters and his team arrived. In just under a day, they planted 800 saplings – a mix of native broadleaved species including alder, hornbeam, rowan, walnut, dog rose, and wild cherry.
“It’s so satisfying to think that as they grow, these trees will bring enjoyment not just to me but to all those who look up to Martinsell Hill from this spot in the years and decades ahead,” says Diana.“I just wish I’d done it 10 years ago.”
Woodland Trust outreach adviser Jeremy Evans says:“Diana has created a wonderful site that will not only look good but also do good.The trees and shrubs will fight climate change by locking up carbon, they’ll enrich the soil, reduce the impact of flooding, provide shade and shelter and a fantastic habitat for wildlife. I think she will be surprised by how quickly the wildlife moves in now the trees are in the ground. In fact, she may have to race the small mammals and birds for some of the nuts and berries,” says Jeremy.“We hope Diana’s experience encourages other landowners to plant trees. It’s one of the most life-affirming and life-giving things people can do, especially in this time of climate and nature emergency.”