Planting trees thanks to the Woodland Trust

This year, we have been very fortunate to receive free trees from the Woodland Trust for Countryside Skills students to plant in Little Wittenham Wood.

We have been planting along the woodland ride, in the areas that were coppiced over the winter.

The purpose of the coppicing is to open up the ride to allow more light in, making it a more pleasant place to walk, but also allowing more woodland plants to grow in the open spaces.  This 'edge habitat' is preferred by many plant, animal and invertebrate species due to the increased light and warmth, close cover and higher quantity of feeding material.

We really enjoyed our sunny days out in the woods.  It was great to think that one day, some of the trees we planted will have grown as big as this mighty oak in the background!

If you are from a school or community interested in planting trees, check out the Woodland Trust's free trees scheme and apply!

Planting trees with the Sylva Foundation

Part of the Countryside Skills course requires the students to show that they are able to plant a tree in the correct sequence and know how to look after it (i.e. by providing a guard to protect it from nibbling rabbits and strong winds).

This year, we have been very fortunate to be able to work with Gabriel and Jen down the road at the Sylva Foundation, and have planted up a few plots of their Future Forest. We have planted sweet chestnut trees in plots that we will take future Countryside Skills students to coppice in a few years time. The site is very easy to access so it's perfect for some of our less mobile students.

Every single one of our 50 Countryside Skills students planted trees. Well done everyone!