Coppicing management at Spring Park
We are currently in the sixteenth year of our coppice restoration project. In February a contractor felled another small area along Woodland Way.
The trees, which were last coppiced 80 years ago, will quickly regenerate and will be around six feet tall by August this year. Coppicing rejuvenates the trees and extends their lives by many decades. As the chestnut regrows, other native tree species, such as willow, cherry, rowan, birch and even the occasional small leaved lime, become established, increasing the biodiversity onsite. At ground level during the first 2-3 years wildflowers, such as foxglove, take advantage of the extra sunlight reaching the forest floor. For a few years after felling, brambles tend to dominate, but as the canopies of the chestnuts and other tree species start to close up again, the ground flora composition changes and ancient woodland species such as bluebells, wood sorrel or wood anemone create colorful carpets. A stroll through the chestnuts starting at Tudor Gardens and finishing at Copse Avenue reveals all these stages of the coppice cycle.
Looking ahead, our challenge will be to restore the high oak canopy which has gradually diminished over the last hundred years. We have already started growing some of last year’s acorns and we will take cuttings from the mature oaks later this spring. |
