by Belinda Kirk
Over the last two weeks, we have had a brilliant, if slightly back-breaking, time planting 1200 trees over 6 acres of our small-holding in Exmoor National Park. A Christmas present to the planet and to our son Jackson, it will be called ‘Jackson’s Wood’ - they will grow up together and by the time Jackson is an adult it will be a healthy vibrant oak woodland.
21 lovely people volunteered their time over the Christmas period to help us achieve our big ambition. Thank you to Nick, Valerie, David, Jo, Dolly, Kate, Karen, Phil, Colin, Tanja, Lindsey, Dan, Astrid, Ben, Jen, James, Karen, Annette, Simon, Oscar and Freya.
Ben and Jen had a great technique of speaking to each whip (very young sapling) as they planted it in the ground, wishing it well and telling it to grow to the light. Annette, Simon, Oscar and Freya planted a whole row of alder and other watery species by the river together as a family. Colin and Tanja only called in for a cup of tea and ended up planting 50 trees between them- thank you! We are so grateful for everyone's time especially over the period of high-consumption and excess that is Christmas. We all hope to camp in the woodland in years to come and will have regular reunions to chart the trees’ progress.
All trees planted were local native species and the diversity of trees will mean that the wood can support a variety of wildlife and will be resilient to pests, disease and climate change. In terms of numbers, we planted…
Oak: 300
Birch: 100
Bird cherry and wild cherry: 100
Crab apple: 50
Beech: 75
Alder: 35
Goat willow: 50
And also plenty of shrubs:
Blackthorn: 25
Hawthorn: 100
Spindle: 50
Dog rose: 25
Hazel: 50
Everyone enjoyed doing something positive for the planet in amongst the pretty negative and depressing news of the year. Especially whilst the forest fires rage in Australia.
The whole project was part-funded out of our own pocket and part-funded by Woodland Trust. If anyone has any land and wants to do the same they can contact the Woodland Trust for advice or me, too, for a personal perspective. The Woodland Trust’s Big Climate Fightback, which raises funds and holds tree-planting events across the country, will be happening again in 2020 and they promise it will be bigger and better.
