This year’s coppicing has come to a somewhat spectacular end with the felling of three large Oaks in the North West corner of the wood. This is to thin the canopy where it is most dense and provide light and warmth to improve the diversity of ground flora and the prospects of younger trees (see our post of January 2nd below). It is sad in many ways to see the end of three of our old and majestic Oaks, but creating gaps in the canopy is of great benefit to the species diversity and age-structure of the wood as a whole. And it is necessary if we are to retain our younger Oaks and allow new saplings to thrive for future generations to enjoy.
Protecting this new regrowth is from browsing deer is of course vital. We will be erecting a temporary deer fence around the coupe for the next two to three years.
Lag Wood 