Autumn Update

Well, here we are in October.  Not much logging over the past couple of months, but plenty going on in the woods.  Here's an overview of what we've been up to, and how the management plan is coming along.

Activity - Learning

I've been working my way through Ben Law's book; "Sustainable Woodland Management".  In it he has some case studies of woodlands that have been, or are being, regenerated.  One of these, Leckmelm Wood in Ullapool, is not far from us, so I went to visit.  Bernard Planterose, the owner, was very welcoming and showed me his plans and ideas.  Bernard runs a very successful timber building design and construction business from his wood, which he bought derelict from the Forestry Commission around 30 years ago.

In August we had a professional forager come and spend the weekend with us.  His speciality is fungi. It was staggering how much there was to learn just by walking around the woodland with him for a couple of hours.  I discovered that we had a lot of edible, and very desirable, species in the wood, including Ceps, Larch Boletes and Saffron Milkcaps.  We brought home quite a harvest and spent a happy evening over a bottle of wine, cooking up and sampling the various mushrooms.

During the summer we headed down to the open weekend at Trees For Life's estate in Glen Morriston.  Trees For Life is the organisation that is attempting to re-establish the Caledonian Pine Forest in Glen Affric.  We had an interesting morning wandering around their tree nursery and understanding how they prepare their saplings for planting out in the arduous upland conditions.

Activity - Woodland Work

Most of our time has been taken on woodland ride clearance and maintenance.  The rides are around 8 feet wide and cut through the plantation every 25 yards or so.  They were well constructed, with plenty of stone being put down, but many of them have become overgrown n the last few years.  Maintenance involves keeping the side branches of the ride-side trees brashed up to a height of about 8 feet, periodic mowing through the summer and remedial ground work to put right the damage caused by Landrover usage.  The net effect is to provide corridors which assist airflow and provide hunting grounds for bats and owls.

Other maintenance has included some routine fence repairs, and I'm hoping to get some guttering up on the cabin before the winter.  This will allow rainwater harvesting as well as preventing water from flowing under the cabin on the concrete apron, and soaking through the joists.

Also over the summer we have:

- Marked out and cleared a sunny area for a tree nursery

- Identified and cleared a site for our first speculative "Glamping" site

- continued with thinning work and some firewood processing.

With regard to planning, I spent a happy afternoon walking the woodland earlier in the summer, identifying natural glades that can be opened up as sites for edge-Planting of additional species (mostly broadleaves for coppicing).

We're now moving into the busy time for the foliage business.  The contractors will be arriving in early November to start cutting and bundling the Noble Fir foliage, and we've already attended the industry's first big trade show in Cheshire.

A Quiet Week

Not up to much in the woodland this week, as I'm in Birmingham delivering a seminar (my"other" job).

I'll still be working on the plan in free time though.

SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis is a useful technique, often used in strategic business planning.  It's essentially a "pasteboard" that allows one to consider, and list, the Strengths and Weaknesses of an enterprise, the Opportunities facing it, and the Threats that could compromise the success of the enterprise.

Here's my first stab at a SWOT analysis for Tarrel Woodland:

Strengths

Location - by the coast, high amenity value
Climate - benign, relatively dry, good sunshine record
Soil quality - planted on fertile agricultural land
Access and terrain - level with all purpose vehicle access to road
Existing income from foliage sales
Site layout - well designed with good quality tracks
Good neighbours
Size and space - 60 acres, enough to do new stuff while maintaining existing income flow


Weaknesses

Mono-culture.  80% plus is close-planted Noble Fir
Distance from major population centres
Some rides eroded and need attention / investment
No grid power or water at site
Non-native species present
Overgrown.  Needs thinning, ride clearance.
Lack of manpower
Limited funds
Current income is highly seasonal
Owner's lack of experience


Opportunities

Foliage sales - maintain / develop
Wreaths - high value-added
Other festive decorations
Tourism - camping, bushcraft, foraging
Forest education - schools, adult outdoor-learning, retreats, workshops
Large nordman firs (20 feet plus)
Firewood - for own use and for sale
Lumber (planks, poles, roundwood)
Furniture
Wood-turning
Non-timber forest products (NTFP) - fruit, herbs, fungi, etc.
Seed and sapling sales
Short rotation coppice products (fence posts, walking sticks, staves, etc)
Improvement grants
Solar farm
Leasing part of land
Conversion to / rental of woodland crofts
Diversification of planting to facilitate some of above
Increase in / diversification of wildlife within the woodland
Meat production through occasional control of rabbits / deer


Threats

Disease / insects / fungal infection
Fire
Tourism downturn
Loss of wholesale foliage partner / customer
Planning constraints
Climate change
Time / resources (lack of)


The next steps are:
1.  To articulate a vision for how we see the woodland in 15 years
2.  Prepare a priority matrix for the opportunities identified
3.  Start preparing some specific objectives that will focus our activity over the coming months / years, and allow us to think about any financial investment needed.

Work Done This Week - w/c May 27, 2013

Well, we've had a great spell of settled weather this week; dry with moderate temperatures and light winds.  So I put everything else I needed to do on hold and got down into the woodland for a few solid days' work.

Starting out, and fresh from the insights gained from the visit to the Sustainability Centre, I spent a couple of hours walking around, doing an audit of the trees, looking at growth progress and starting to lay down some broad brush strokes in my mind about the woodland's future.

Here is a list of the trees / shrubs I've identified so far:

• Noble Fir (obviously)
• Nordman Fir
• Scots Pine
• Larch
• Alder
• Rowan (Mountain Ash)
• Hornbeam
• Whitebeam
• Oak
• Sycamore
• Gorse
• Broom

Everything seems very late this year, and the woodland seems a few days later than our domestic garden, which is a few miles inland.  Whitebeam is in full flower.  Oak are just coming into leaf.  The conifers have all flushed and are showing signs of healthy growth.  The rowan are in leaf but with no signs of berries (whereas the rowan in our garden has many small berries forming).

It looks like we're going to have a heavy coning year.  The Nobles are already showing the embryonic growths that will develop into spectacular upright cones, up to 20cm long.  I wonder if there's a specific reason for this, or if it's just another example of how everything is responding to the unusual weather?

The woodland is full of bird-life.  More, I think, than we've had before, which is encouraging.


I cleared and levelled a large natural glade which I'd like to ultimately develop as a small, low impact camping site for those who are interested in coming to see what we're up to.  I have in mind a couple of pre-erected canvas bell-tents, a covered dining area, composting toilet and solar shower.

While sitting in this glade eating my lunch, it occurred to me that these glades represent a great opportunity to expand the "woodland edge" and increase planting diversity by adding in some new species at the margin of the glade.  Introduction of fruiting species, such as more rowan, maybe crabapple and others, will provide a richer habitat for wildlife as well as ultimately providing products to use and/or sell.  So, I went on another excursion and identified all the existing and potential glades that could be developed this way.


For some time I've been thinking of the need to develop a tree nursery.  We have a lot of Noble Fir seedlings in the main block as a result of natural regeneration.  However, many are deeply shaded and I wonder how they will thrive.  The plan is to lift these and transplant them into the nursery for a couple of years, where they will be subject to better growing conditions in terms of competition, soil condition and light.  They will then be planted out to replace thinned specimens or trees that have naturally failed to thrive.

So, this week I identified a location for the nursery, adjacent to one of the rides and not far from our store-cabin.  This will make it easy to bring water down to the nursery for irrigation if needed.  The area marked out is 40 feet by 20 feet.  Enough for 800 trees at one-foot spacings, although I don't think we'll plant that many (but we'll see).  The next steps will be to prepare the ground, dig in plenty of compost and fence it.  (We don't have too many deer in the wood, but the sight of 800 tender young Noble Fir saplings all in one place would just be too tempting!)


The remainder of the week has been spent felling a brashing dead trees for firewood, and processing some of the (limited) thinning we have done so far.  I leave the piles of brash in the woodland amongst the trees as a wildlife habitat.  The branches will also ultimately break down and return nutrients to the soil.  I do worry about fire-risk though.  The trunks are cross-cut into logs in-situ and hauled out by Land Rover to a large logpile where they are seasoning ready for winter.

We've also been carrying out ride clearance and mowing.  I'm in two minds about mowing the rides.  Keeping them clear does improve airflow and generally makes it easier to get about.  Without maintenance, we get three foot high thistles very quickly.  However, mowing does seem to stimulate the growth.  On balance, I'd rather mow than use a herbicide.

Finally, Carol has done a great job of painting the cabin with a fresh couple of coats of woodstain.


So, at the end of a busy week, the muscles are aching, but I'm generally feeling good having spent the whole week out of doors.

Where Are We Now? A Virtual Tour of Tarrel Woodland

Tarrel Woodland is a 60 acre woodland, comprising primarily of Noble Fir, planted around 24 years ago from scratch on agricultural land.  It was established by a Danish christmas tree company for the production of decorative festive foliage.  Noble Fir is a non-native species of True Fir (Abies Procera), which originates from the Pacific North West of the USA.

The woodland consists of a large central block of Noble Fir, planted at 2m spacings, a smaller adjacent block of Scots Pine, and a margin consisting of a mix of Noble Fir, Nordman Fir, Larch and some broadleaves such as Oak, Alder, Hornbeam and Whitebeam.

Here is an aerial photo from Google.  The white line on the right indicates an all-weather track that provides access to the road.  The main Noble Fir block can be seen in the centre.  The straight lines running roughly left to right are rides spaced at 25 metre intervals.  The Scots Pine can be seen at the top.  The woodland is surrounded on three sides by agricultural land, and by the sea at the bottom.

The woodland is in a coastal location and sits atop a low cliff which is just below the bottom of the aerial picture.

Here is the view from the bottom gate, looking southwest down the Moray Firth.


Products

Historically, the woodland has been used to produce Noble Fir foliage.  This is sold wholesale to garden centres and florists for the production of festive wreaths and other decorations.  Up to 100 tonnes of foliage a year has been taken out of the woodland.  The branches are cut by hand using long-handled loppers.  A few branches are taken from each tree.  Achievement of quality branches and colour has been through use of commercial fertiliser and careful weed control.

Since we acquired the plantation four years ago, we have reduced production to take the pressure off the trees, and developed an in-house wreath-making business to add value to the product.  We sell these retail on-line and wholesale to local businesses such as garden centres, gift shops and christmas tree retailers.  The business is highly seasonal; branches should only be cut once the trees have entered their dormant state (November), and the finished product is obviously needed by Christmas!

Above picture shows a Noble Fir branch.  These are tied into 5 kg bundles (around 7-8 branches) and this is the "industry standard" unit of sale.

Pallets of Noble Fir bundles being loaded for transportation.

State of the Woodland

The woodland is ready for thinning.  Although there are some natural glades formed where planted trees failed to thrive, much of the main block is dark, with a dead under-storey.  Light is restricted from reaching the side branches of the Noble Firs and this affects the colour.

We are in the process of starting a 10% thinning regime, and application for a felling license from the Forestry Commission is under way.  We will use the thinned trees personally for firewood, and probably sell some.

In the areas where light reaches the ground, natural regeneration is underway, with small Noble Fir seedlings sprouting from seed.  It is our intention to transplant some of these to a tree nursery to grow them on in more favourable light and soil conditions for a couple of years, before replanting to provide the "next generation" of Nobles.  We may also sell some of these young trees.

Some of the rides are overgrown and suffering from erosion due to extraction of the foliage over the years.  We are addressing this by cutting back side-branches, grading and laying down stone in soft spots.

Erosion at bell-end of a ride, where it joins the main track

Wildlife

Wildlife is fairly abundant at Tarrel, but I believe it could be better.  There is a variety of bird-life, including many small birds such as chaffinch, robin, yellowhammer, swallow, wagtail and great tit, as well as pigeon, pheasant and visiting woodcock.  We have hares, foxes and roe deer which lay up in the woodland during the day (the woodland is deer-fenced but there is a gap where the deer come in.  I'm not worried about this as the trees are well established, and there are only a few deer).

Other Tree / Shrub Species

As well as the main Noble Fir block and the mixed margins, we have various stands of large Nordman Fir.  These are a legacy from when Nordmans were interplanted with the Nobles to provide a christmas tree income for the original owners while the Nobles were establishing.  Some of these Nordmans are now 30 feet high and would make great town-centre Christmas Trees!

Infrastructure

The rides in the woodland are basically sound, though a little rutted and overgrown in places.  A lot of investment was obviously put into constructing them in the first place.  The woodland is generally fairly flat, so access is quite easy.  The main track at the side is solid, and is connected to the road (about 1 km away) by a farm track and then a private concrete driveway.  At the top-right corner of the woodland (closest to the exit) is a hard-standing suitable for allowing a truck to turn, and a storage cabin for tools and equipment.


I hope this has given those who are interested a better picture of the woodland "as-is".  We have a website, www.tarrelwoodland.com, if anyone would like to know more about the products, although I am about to revamp this.

For the next post I am going to do a SWOT analysis of the woodland, leading to the outline for a management plan for how we intend to evolve Tarrel into a sustainably managed, diverse woodland.

Introduction and Welcome

Hello,

For those who have reached this Blog through our other blog, NewlifeinNorthernScotland, or through Powerswitch, you will know about my background and our "downsizing" move to Scotland.

For everyone else reading this, welcome and thank you for taking the time to read this.  Let me take a few moments to introduce myself and explain what this Blog is all about.

My name is Mark Janes.  I have been married to Carol for 29 years and we have three (adult) boys.  Following a career in the sales-and-marketing area of the Corporate World, I founded a learning and development company 16 years ago.  Riding the early "boom" years of New Labour, business was easy and I lived my own little entrepreneurial dream.  As time went on, I found myself feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the way things were going; notably the rising debt levels, the increasing tendency for large companies to kick sand in the face of the little guy, and the way we were trashing the environment and storing up enormous problems for our children (my children!).  Frankly, I'd had enough and wanted out.  For me, the solution was forestry.  I'm an "outdoorsy type" and enjoy nothing more than tinkering about in our woodland.  Am I any good at it?  Well, that's a whole different question!

Carol provides on-line advice on child-rearing to new parents.  She can work anywhere there's an internet connection.  We pretty much had the opportunity to go where we wanted.  So, in 2012, we packed up and headed to Northern Scotland, where we have acquired a 200 year old ex-croft house and 60 acres of conifer woodland; Tarrel Woodland.

Tarrel Woodland is a Noble Fir conifer plantation.  It was established in the early 90's for the specific purpose of yielding foliage boughs for the festive decorative industry.  The product is a very attractive blue/green foliage which is used for Christmas Wreaths, table decorations, garlands, etc.  We acquired it as a "going concern" from the original owners; a Danish Christmas Tree company.

The woodland is a classic example of "Industrial Agriculture" (or, in this case, Horticulture).  The trees are nearly all of one type, planted close together.  The large quantity of foliage taken out each year means the trees are permanently under stress.  They require high inputs of fertiliser and herbicides, and are susceptible to attack from insects and disease.  In the past, upwards of 100 tonnes of foliage has been taken out each year, trashing the ground and damaging trees near the extraction routes.  Right from the start, my intention was to change this and move the woodland towards a more sustainable, organic management model.  In fact, the first thing we did was to reduce production by about two-thirds and give the trees a chance to rest.

We've had the plantation for four years.  Before we moved here, we were managing it by "remote control", through occasional visits.  As a result, we tended to stick with the previous business model for the woodland, and inertia kicked in.  However, a recent visit to The Sustainability Centre in Hampshire, together with reading Ben Law's book on Sustainable Woodland Management, has focused our minds once again on the task of transforming the woodland.

Ben Law's book has given me two important insights:

1.  Although it takes time for a woodland to develop and mature (generations, in fact), there are nevertheless results to be had over a shorter timescale (10-15 years).

2.  Local, indigenous plants, shrubs and trees will establish themselves and grow with little intervention.  It's just about providing a favourable environment.

So, I've set myself a target of 15 years to get Tarrel Woodland well and truly on the path to a sustainable future, so that whoever comes after me (one of our children, or a new owner, or the local community) can enjoy the benefit of a diverse range of products from the wood while nurturing a thriving eco-system.

I was advised to make copious notes about everything I do (I'd like to write a book at the end of the process), so I've decided to make this blog the actual place to write my notes.  If you follow it, what you'll see is the raw, unedited story of our day-to-day work at Tarrel.

Coming next...About the woodland, and plans for the future.