Scout Tree Planting
On Sunday 8th March 1st Woosehill Scouts, in conjunction with Friends of Fox Hill and Wokingham Borough Council Countryside Services team, returned to Fox Hill Woods for a day of tree planting.
Over 20 Scouts, siblings and parents turned out to plant around 75 saplings of under-storey trees which were provided by the Woodland Trust as part of their community planting programme.
The species planted by the scouts were:
- Hazel
- Blackthorn
- Rowan
- Elder
This year the trees have been planted in small groups of a similar species in areas where we have finished clearing the rhododendron. Each sapling was given a guard to prevent deer and other animals from feeding on the tender shoots.
As previously the roots of each sapling were given a dose of a mycorrhizal dip. This beneficial fungal treatment should help re-establish the “wood-wide-web” which has been disrupted by the rhododendron.
As expected some of the saplings planted last year have not survived. We hope that repeated topping up and extension of the under storey vegetation will in time create a more diverse, lush native woodland in amongst the birch and sweet chestnut.