I know a joke which follows that exclamation, but I wouldn’t dare say it these days.
We’re lucky to have a two acre square wood. Charles managed to bully the Forestry Commission into selling it to us not long after we came. It had apparently been used as an experimental plot, initially planted with beech, then Japanese larch in 1878. These were felled before we came, leaving the stumps and a wonderful mixture of native trees and shrubs, including oak and beech which had grown tall and straight due to being weaved in with the larch. That was all very nice but it was also full of bracken and bramble, over head height. Took us a couple of years to clear those.
Then Charles got a grant and planted lots of trees. Which died or got eaten. There is a lesson here for keen tree planters – if the deer don’t get them (yep, put guards on them) they may grow for a few years. Until they are old enough for the squirrels to bark them. And should the squirrels refrain for some unlikely reason, drought, storm or disease will take them next.
and here…
So after some rather futile years, losing as much as we planted, we made a radical decision: to keep the big old trees, which appear able to weather the wildlife, and not bother with any new ones. This rather nicely focused our attention on these rather splendid trees and their beautiful trunks.
There’s a hint here though for enthusiastic tree planters – the trees which do survive best appear to be the ones which planted themselves: natural regeneration works best.
So now, we enjoy the mature trees.
And sometimes they have to cope with a storm. Or not:
In a recent storm one of the beech trees at the edge of the wood blew over. Fortunately doing little damage – it landed in a neighbour’s field. If you look at the enormous size of it, the root ball seems horribly little!
(Drone pic courtesy of Charles Hawes)
But it and many others like it have, until now, survived drought and drench and other storms too.
Why does Charles look so chuffed? Firewood! We’ll have two warm rooms in a few years no matter what the energy prices do. It needs logging, bringing down to the garage, splitting, storing, stacking, seasoning, bringing into the house and then – burning.
In terms of tree species, what makes this little wood unusual is that we have quite a lot of hornbeam. We took a dozen seedlings out many years ago which have grown into a tunnel in the Front Garden. There was also some Rowan and I did plant a few more different varieties of these and they have mostly survived and grown nicely. But really there are too many trees for them all to thrive. Of the huge beech that fell I saw quite a bit of rot in the exposed roots. It measured 3.3 metres in girth near its base which could make it 150-200 years old so possibly nearing the end of its natural life. So yes, that answers the question of the source of our firewood for a few years but I’d rather not lose any more for a while.
it’s well known that wood warms you three times over: once when you cut it, once when you carry it in, and once when you burn it.
Loved this piece. The trees in that wood and the moss that grows on them and on the little ruin create an atmosphere that is magical. I spent some very happy time sitting there, doing nothing but breathing. The drone shot tells a tale: wow! That’s enough firewood for years.
That’s good to hear – I often wonder whether our visitors venture into the woods. As for firewood – that’s true. And an enormous amoumt of work to clear it – a good thing our neighbour shows no sign of needing to have it gone. (yet)