Find us on facebook & Flickr
Holt Copse Conservation Volunteers
  • Home
  • Holt Copse
  • HCCV
  • Management
    • Coppicing
    • Species Lists
    • Management Documents
    • Activity Record
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Copse Blog
  • Gallery
  • Links
  • Progress 2019-20

30th October 2020

11/1/2020

0 Comments

 
​An enjoyable morning spent planting trees - red oaks in Joel Park and English oaks in The Copse.
Picture
0 Comments

Hazel Planting Begins

1/19/2019

0 Comments

 
Today we made a start on planting nearly 200 hazel whips.
Picture
Picture
Planted in groups of three to give a little more initial impact.

0 Comments

Hazel Planting Time

2/24/2018

0 Comments

 
Over 300 hazel saplings were planted this morning in the newly cleared area alongside the main path.
Picture
A fantastic effort from everyone involved!
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Hazel planting

1/31/2017

0 Comments

 
Our early work involved removing a lot of holly, coppicing any large hazel that still survived and planting more young hazel.  Since about 2010 HCCV have planted between 1500 - 2000 bare root hazel plants, virtually all supplied by Nicholsons Nurseries.  (A few plants came from members’ gardens, seedlings from nuts probably buried by squirrels.)  Being in a wood the plants had largely to look after themselves once planted, but the majority still survived even in dry springs. 
We usually plant hazel in groups of three to simulate a single-stemmed plant one or two years after coppicing.  While the plants are small and cast little shade brambles thrive, and so  for the first few years after planting  HCCV’s other big task is ‘bramble bashing’ -  digging or  pulling them up by hand.  Although essential this isn’t our favourite job but with most of the roots growing in the thick layer of leaf mould present in the wood, it is easier than you might think.  We also get quite a sense of satisfaction after a team has cleared a sizeable area!  In the last two years we’ve invested in small hand mattocks (c. £10) which are ideal, so if you have to do this sort of work I strongly recommend them.
Nicholsons sell various sizes and ages of bare root hazel plants and because of our bramble problem (and our almost stone-free soil which makes planting easy) we find bare root transplants superior to the equivalent sized seedlings.   They usually have a number of stems and a bigger and more fibrous root system, so they establish faster and make plants that compete with the brambles at least one and probably two or more years sooner than seedlings do.
Photographs:
  1. Unpacking the plants, showing their well-developed root systems.
  2. Hazel being planted in groups of 3 by two-man teams.
  3. The small mattock we find very useful when ‘bramble bashing’.
Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

    Author

    Mike Saynor, Colin Melhuish - HCCV Joint Co-ordinators

    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    June 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017

    Categories

    All
    Autumn
    Aviva
    Bats
    Bench
    Birds
    Birdwatch
    Birthday
    Bluebells
    Brambles
    Burrows
    Cake
    Catkins
    Christmas
    Connaught Avenue
    Coppicing
    Deer
    Doughnuts
    Drainage
    Education
    Foxgloves
    Fungi
    Haloween
    Hazel
    Hedge
    Hedgelaying
    Information
    Litter
    Moths
    Nature Watch
    Nest Boxes
    Nicholsons
    Oak
    Planting
    Pumpkins
    Red Oak
    RSPB
    Spring
    Storm
    Summer
    Survey
    Tea Break
    TV
    Video
    Wildflowers
    Work Party

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.