Trees mean game birds
Woodland plays a valuable role in game management, particularly for pheasants, and new planting can help both driven and rough shoots
Creating new areas of woodland represents a lasting and significant contribution to the landscape. A new plantation not only enhances already existing habitats, but a good scheme will benefit other wildlife and game birds too. Many game birds need cover at ground level for both nesting and shelter. Redleg partridges particularly rely on shrubby cover because they lay their eggs on the ground. Similarly, fruiting trees such as hawthorn provide food as well as habitat for game birds. Not only this, but by planting trees on your land you can save money on energy bills by harvesting your own wood for fuel and selling the timber locally, as well as creating a beautiful green space for the enjoyment of generations to come.
HOW TREES WORK FOR YOUR SHOOT
By planting the right trees in the right place, you can cater for different types of shooting, and generate a number of different benefits. If you have a driven shoot, the decision on where to plant any new woodland is critical. If you are more concerned with improving the quality and quantity of existing habitat, where you choose to plant can be varied. You can even plan your planting to flush the birds at a particular point, bolster an existing drive, or create a completely new one.
Planting around existing trees is one way to help increase habitat diversity. If you are starting from scratch, do include glades and coppiced compartments for nesting and feeding areas. Rides and woodland edges will host grassland plants and a range of insects, providing good feeding opportunities for the birds.
Pheasants are seldom found more than 50 metres inside a wood, so planting narrow woodland with long external edges is ideal. Open shrubby spaces within the wood, surrounded by medium height trees will encourage the birds to fly upwards. By planting a boundary hedge the worst of the wind can be intercepted at ground level, giving natural protection from the elements, and the warmth and shelter that these birds need.
WHAT SHOULD I PLANT?
Game requires shelter at ground level so shrubs like hawthorn, hazel and dog rose are a good idea. A mixture of native trees and shrubs not only provides cover but also increases the holding capacity of the woodland. Native trees such as oak, hornbeam and beech are favourites, so plant these and other taller trees in the middle of the plot with shorter growing species and shrubs around the margin and the edges. A small number of scots pine can also be planted to provide year-round warmth. Which species of trees you choose will depend on your soil type – it could be chalky or clay, loamy, peaty, sandy or silty. A good indication of what to plant can be taken by looking at other species which are thriving in the same area as that which you intend to plant.
WHERE CAN I PLANT?
There are many suitable areas on any landholding. A field corner, hard-to-work area or scrubby patch could be planted to help support your shoot. Trees planted near crops will double up as shelterbelts and act as a harbour for pollinating insects. To add diversity to a driven shoot, several small woodlands could be planted on higher ground.
WELL PLANTED
Henry and Edward Heath’s mixed arable and stock farm now boasts two new blocks of native woodland thanks to the Woodland Trust – a huge addition to the few hedge willows that previously adorned their land, providing valuable game cover and a great example of what can be achieved.
“We were motivated to plant trees to improve wildlife habitats but also as new cover for game and firewood in due course,” says Henry Heath. “We specifically went for a mix of trees and shrubs as the best way to encourage game birds and local wildlife” he says of the new plot.
The mixed 141 hectare holding worked by the two brothers was already well on the way to increased biodiversity thanks to a couple of newly-dug lakes. But the planting of 2,250 broadleaf trees on a hectare of previous set-aside and rough pasture land in some of the farm’s smaller meadows, is a major step towards raising the farm’s conservation profile.
Plan your planting to flush birds at a particular point, or bolster an existing drive