Woodland
Management & Consultancy
across the UK

Woodland Management & Consultancy across the UK

Woodland
Management & Consultancy
across the UK

Woodland Management & Consultancy Woodland management is one of our major activities. We work with private woodland owners, woodland investment companies, local & district councils and wildlfe & conservation groups as well. We occasionally, depending on work load, perform some voluntary work in woodlands to help charitable groups, namely Forest Schools that are starting up and those intent on initiating sustainable woodland management programmes. Our woodland management aims and experience is geared around the principles of sustainable woodland management, enjoying its amenity value, ensuring and developing wildlife conservation and increasing biodiversity. We are well used to the challanges and considerations required to undertake work in SSSI (Sites of special scientific interest) and generally sensitive environments. Here, in particular, any woodland management activities have to include a consideration of the other species present and the woodland as a whole.

	Woodland Management activities...
		Track Clearance & Creation Coppicing, Felling & Thinning Clearing Rhododendron& Laurel Gates & Fencing Ditch Clearing & Creation Surveying & Management Plans
When working in areas outside our normal working area we are adept at tracking down and keeping a network of good quality contractors alongside members of our teams to carry out these various woodland management objectives.

Local knowledge and liaison is vital to the success of any major woodland management program



Woodland Management - Tracks Opening up new tracks into amenity woodland allows owners, families and schools to gain access deep into their woodland. In commercial woodlands it gives access for timber and products extraction
Clearing tracks into amenity woodland - Buckinghamshire	Creating access paths in Wet Woodland - Norfolk Broads	Track creation - Snowdonia

Coppicing, Felling & Thinning Coppicing is an ancient form of sustainable woodland management which makes use of the ability that some trees have to regenerate themselves when they are cut. In this system the tree is cut to ground level in the winter months and then left to regrow. When it reaches a harvestable size it is recut. This is a 'cycle' or 'rotation'. The idea is that woodland areas, known as 'cants' or 'coups' are cut sequentially. The number of these areas being the time in years for the trees to reach a harvestable size so there is always annual produce. It provides the understorey in a woodland and is a regular and sustainable source of timber when managed properly. The most common trees to be coppiced are hazel, hornbeam, sweet chestnut, oak & willow. Coppice is a major type of woodland in Britain, which on the whole has unfortunately been left without management since the second world war. The result is that much of our coppice woodland is desperately in need of re-cutting in order to preserve its integrity and maintain its overall health. We are at a stage now where some of the coppiced trees are falling apart and so falling over. See photo...

			Coppice when allowed to become 'overstood' has a tendency to fall apart and therefore the quality of the woodland decreases

			Bringing coppice back into 'rotation' now may just save such overstood coppice, increasing biodiversity and creating a local sustainable source of wood fuel and timber

Coppicing is also important for biodiversity in woodlands as the system means that there is a range across the whole woodland of trees of different ages and heights, with all the diversity of wildlife that comes with this variation. We consider the revival of coppicing as so important for our British wildlife and landscape that a whole series of web pages is currently under construction to cover this sustainable woodland management system.

Felling & Thinning Where trees have been managed for timber the standard activities of felling and thinning are part of the management plan. We don't get involved with clear felling with the commercial use of large timber extraction machinery, but undertake work where selected trees are carefully felled with a view to on site saw milling or where there is a need to fell for creating clearings or ponds, or for health and safety reasons. When woodlands are planted the young trees are closely planted so they compete with each other and 'draw' each other up towards the light. This encourages straight growth. As the trees grow older thinning takes place periodically. The purpose is to selectively remove poor specimen trees and/or to give more space and light to those with a greater potential to grow into fine mature trees. The thinnings can be used as firewood, poles, and/or converted into charcoal

Clearing Rhododendron& Laurel

Invasive non-native species such as Rhododendron& laurel become a challenge in any woodland if they are left to grow unchecked. Especially where in the past shooting has been the main use of a woodlands, it may be found that often Rhododendron was planted to give cover to game birds bred in the woods . Or it may be that it has 'escaped' from nearby planted ornamental gardens. Whatever the case it can develop into a major problem with the eventual result in some cases being that the woodland becomes pure Rhododendron It self seeds and propagates by suckering, spreading out and covering the ground with a deep dark shade under which nothing else can grow. The break down of its leaves acidifies the soil as it goes.

Woodland management clearing rhododendron

Clearing of Rhododendron in Mid-Wales,
often a problem in this region

In some cases removal of Rhododendron& laurel is something that can only be achieved by consistent effort over many years, especially if it has already become well established. There are woodland improvement grants available from the Forestry Commission to remove Rhododendron from woodlands, which is something worth looking into. It is definitely worth investing the effort to remove it in woodlands where nature conservation is the main aim.

There are other invasive non-native species such as Himalayan Balsam and Japanese Knotweed which can also become a problem to our native habitats if left unchecked. These highly invasive species, Rhododendron& laurel, are cases where the argument for the limited careful use of herbicides could be considered

Ditch maintenance & creation Ditches are literally the arteries and veins of a woodland and the maintenance of ditches to keep them free flowing can be of the up most importance to the health of the woodland. Water needs to freely drain from woodlands so they do not become waterlogged. If the ground becomes too wet then the health of the trees is undermined and in serious cases can lead to 'wind throw', where trees unstable in the wet ground are blown over by high winds. Once an area of wind throw has started there can be a domino effect passing through a woodland. This happens where adjacent trees which have grown with the shelter of other trees are now exposed to the full force of the wind and suffer wind throw themselves, and so on. In overgrown woodlands that have received no management for a long time it is also an excellent way of penetrating deep into a woodland and opening it up to discover what exists and serves as a first point of surveying and mapping. Keeping ditches clear is a simple enough operation, but requires effort and the right tools. We have found from experience that it only takes a relatively small fallen branch to lead to a build up of debris and eventually to a serious dam blocking up the free flow.

When the ditches are old, have become shallower and silted up then it may be necessary to carry out some 're-ditching' work with some heavy machinery. Or when planted over with trees it can sometimes be simpler to create new ditches rather than try to bring the old ones back into service. This can be done with a bit of clearing and then bringing in a 360 digger with a ditching bucket.

Surveying & Management Plans

For new woodland owners unsure exactly what they have or what to do with their woodland we can offer a service of surveying and the drawing up of a management plan.

In surveying we cross reference land registry plans with on the ground measurements of land marks and features. We use both the standard 'Walktax' method of measuring, essentially a black box with a reel of bio-degradable cotton which turns a measuring wheel as you walk, with modern GPS satellite navigation. The two combined with our experience of plotting and map reading means we can produce accurate mapping of woodland areas. We also use computer software to calculate areas and plot lengths.

Accurate surveying is one factor of producing a robust management plan which delivers the long and short term vision and intentions of the owners balanced with the restrictions and resources of the existing woodland.

Good advice is to do nothing major for at least for a year or two of new ownership, giving time to become familiar with the woodland.

In particular...

What plant species exist and where through out the year
Which areas become wet in the winter - are new ditches required? or perhaps a pond to be created?
What and where are the animals of the woodland - bats, badgers, foxes, deer, rabbits - a problem?
What and where are the nesting birds - woodpeckers, birds of prey, song birds?
Becoming aware of where the valuable standing deadwood to be left and protected for wildlife
Are there frost pockets, or areas that are particularly shaded?

In order to organise and focus thinking about future woodland management plans we have devised a short questionnaire. It serves as a first point of guidance to both new woodland owners and to us.

Download the Woodland Management Questionnaire

Deadwood is important woodland management

Examples of 'living' deadwood - See Forestry Commission Publication - "Life in the Deadwood"

Woodland management working range

We will consider woodland management projects across the UK decided on a project by project basis therefore counties that we would cover would include the following along with the major place names. Please call to discuss your requirements

1. Bedfordshire (Bedford, Luton, Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard, Biggleswade, Sandy)
2. Berkshire (Reading, Bracknell, Maidenhead, Newbury, Windsor, Wokingham, Abingdon)
3. Buckinghamshire (Aylesbury, Milton Keynes, Slough, Buckingham, High Wycombe)
4. Cambridgeshire (Cambridge, Wisbech, Ely, March, Whittlesey, Chatteris, Linton)
5. Cheshire (Chester, Stockport, Birkenhead, Wallasey, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Crewe)
6. Cornwall (Bodmin, Truro, Camborne, Redruth, St. Austell, Falmouth, Penzance, Newquay)
7. Cumberland (Carlisle, Whitehaven, Workington, Penrith, Keswick, Brampton)
8. Derbyshire (Derby, Chesterfield, Ilkeston, Swadlincote, Buxton, Matlock, Ashbourne)
9. Devon (Exeter, Plymouth, Torquay, Paignton, Barnstaple, Tiverton, Newton Abbot, Tavistock)
10. Dorset (Dorchester, Poole, Weymouth, Sherborne, Wimborne Minster, Shaftesbury)
11. Durham (Durham, Sunderland, Stockton-on-Tees, Darlington, Hartlepool, Gateshead, Washington)
12. Essex (Chelmsford, Basildon, Romford, Southend, Colcheter, Harlow, Brentwood, West Ham)
13. Gloucestershire (Gloucester, Bristol, Cheltenham, Stroud, Cirencester, Tewkesbury)
14. Hampshire (Winchester, Southampton, Portsmouth, Bournemouth, Basingstoke, Newport)
15. Herefordshire (Hereford, Ross-on-Wye, Leominster, Ledbury, Bromyard, Kington)
16. Hertfordshire (Hertford, Watford, St. Albans, Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, Hatfield)
17. Huntingdonshire (Huntingdon, St. Ives, St. Neots, Ramsey, Yaxley)
18. Kent (Maidstone, Canterbury, Bromley, Rochester, Margate, Folkestone, Dover, Greenwich)
19. Lancashire (Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Bolton, Warrington, Barrow-in-Furness)
20. Leicestershire (Leicester, Loughborough, Hinckley, Melton Mowbray, Coalville, Lutterworth)
21. Lincolnshire (Lincoln, Grimsby, Scunthorpe, Boston, Grantham, Stamford, Skegness, Louth)
22. Middlesex (City of London, Harrow, Enfield, Staines, Ealing, Potters Bar, Westminster )
23. Norfolk (Norwich, Great Yarmouth, King's Lynn, Dereham, Cromer, Hunstanton)
24. Northamptonshire (Northampton, Peterborough, Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough)
25. Northumberland (Alnwick, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Morpeth, Hexham, Berwick-upon-Tweed)
26. Nottinghamshire (Nottingham, Mansfield, Worksop, Newark, Retford, Southwell)
27. Oxfordshire (Oxford, Banbury, Witney, Bicester, Henley-on-Thames, Carterton, Thame)
28. Rutland (Oakham, Uppingham. Cottesmore)
29. Shropshire (Shrewsbury, Telford, Oswestry, Bridgnorth, Whitchurch, Market Drayton, Ludlow)
30. Somerset (Taunton, Bath, Weston-super-Mare, Yeovil, Bridgwater, Wells, Glastonbury)
31. Staffordshire (Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Cannock, Lichfield)
32. Suffolk (Ipswich, Bury St. Edmunds, Lowestoft, Felixstowe, Sudbury, Haverhill, Bungay)
33. Surrey (Guildford, Croydon, Woking, Sutton, Kingston-on-Thames, Wandsworth, Wimbledon, Brixton)
34. Sussex (Chichester, Brighton, Worthing, Crawley, Hastings, Eastbourne, Bognor Regis, Horsham)
35. Warwickshire (Warwick, Birmingham, Coventry, Nuneaton, Rugby, Solihull, Stratford-upon-Avon)
36. Westmorland (Appleby, Kendal, Windermere, Ambleside, Kirkby Lonsdale)
37. Wiltshire (Trowbridge, Salisbury, Swindon, Chippenham, Devizes, Marlborough, Warminster)
38. Worcestershire (Worcester, Dudley, Kidderminster, Stourbridge, Halesowen, Malvern, Evesham)
39. Yorkshire
North Riding (Northallerton, Middlesbrough, Scarborough, Whitby)
East Riding (Beverley, Hull, Bridlington, Driffield, Hornsea, Filey)
West Riding (Wakefield, Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Halifax, Harrogate)
York (within the Walls)

WALES (including Monmouthshire)
40. Anglesey/Sir Fon (Beaumaris, Holyhead, Llangefni, Amlwch, Menai Bridge)
41. Brecknockshire/Sir Frycheiniog (Brecon, Builth Wells, Hay-on-Wye, Talgarth, Llanwrtwd Wells)
42. Caernarfonshire/Sir Gaernarfon (Caernarfon, Bangor, Llandudno, Conwy, Pwllheli, Porthmadog)
43. Carmarthenshire/Sir Gaerfyrddin (Carmarthen, Llanelli, Ammanford, Llandovery, Kidwelly, St. Clears)
44. Cardiganshire/Ceredigion (Cardigan, Aberystwyth, Lampeter, New Quay, Tregaron)
45. Denbighshire/Sir Ddinbych (Denbigh, Wrexham, Ruthin, Abergele, Llangollen)
46. Flintshire/Sir Fflint (Mold, Flint, Rhyl, Prestatyn, Connah's Quay, Holywell, Buckley, St. Asaph)
47. Glamorgan/Morgannwg (Cardiff, Swansea, Merthyr Tydfil, Barry, Caerphilly, Bridgend, Neath, Pontypridd)
48. Merioneth/Meirionnydd (Dolgellau, Bala, Tywyn, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Barmouth, Harlech)
49. Monmouthshire/Sir Fynwy (Monmouth, Newport, Blackwood, Cwmbran, Abergavenny, Chepstow, Tredegar)
50. Montgomeryshire/Sir Drefaldwyn (Montgomery, Newtown, Welshpool, Machynlleth, Llanidloes)
51. Pembrokeshire/Sir Benfro (Pembroke, Milford Haven, Haverfordwest, Fishguard, Tenby, St. David's)
52. Radnorshire/Sir Faesyfed (Presteigne, Llandrindod Wells, Knighton, Rhayader, New Radnor)

SCOTLAND
53. Aberdeenshire (Aberdeen, Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Inverurie, Huntley, Ellon, Turriff)
54. Angus/Forfarshire (Forfar, Dundee, Arbroath, Brechin, Montrose, Carnoustie, Kirriemuir)
55. Argyllshire (Inveraray, Oban, Dunoon, Campbeltown, Lochgilphead, Tobermory)
56. Ayrshire (Ayr, Kilmarnock, Irvine, Saltcoats, Kilwinning, Largs, Troon, Cumnock)
57. Banffshire (Banff, Buckie, Keith, Macduff, Portsoy, Dufftown)
58. Berwickshire (Greenlaw, Duns, Eyemouth, Lauder, Coldstream)
59. Buteshire (Rothesay, Millport, Brodick, Lochranza)
60. Cromartyshire (Cromarty, Ullapool)
61. Caithness (Wick, Thurso, Halkirk, Castletown)
62. Clackmannanshire (Clackmannan, Alloa, Tillicoultry, Tullibody)
63. Dumfriesshire (Dumfries, Annan, Lockerbie, Moffat, Sanquhar, Langholm, Gretna)
64. Dunbartonshire/Dumbartonshire (Dumbarton, Clydebank, Cumbernauld, Helensburgh, Alexandria, Kirkintilloch)
65. East Lothian/Haddingtonshire (Haddington, North Berwick, Dunbar, Tranent, East Linton)
66. Fife (Cupar, Dunfermline, Glenrothes, Kirkcaldy, St. Andrews, Cowdenbeath, Burntisland)
67. Inverness-shire (Inverness, Fort William, Kingussie, Newtonmore, Portree)
68. Kincardineshire (Stonehaven, Banchory, Laurencekirk, Inverbervie)
69. Kinross-shire (Kinross, Milnathort)
70. Kirkcudbrightshire (Kircudbright, Castle Douglas, Dalbeattie, New Galloway)
71. Lanarkshire (Lanark, Glasgow, East Kilbride, Hamilton, Motherwell, Coatbridge, Carluke)
72. Midlothian/Edinburghshire (Edinburgh, Musselburgh, Penicuik, Dalkeith, Bonnyrigg)
73. Morayshire (Elgin, Forres, Rothes, Lossiemouth, Fochabers)
74. Nairnshire (Nairn, Auldearn, Cawdor, Ferness)
75. Orkney (Kirkwall, Sromness, Balfour)
76. Peeblesshire (Peebles, Innerleithen, West Linton)
77. Perthshire (Perth, Crieff, Pitlochry, Callander, Blairgowrie, Rattray, Coupar Angus, Kincardine)
78. Renfrewshire (Renfrew, Paisley, Greenock, Johnstone, Port Glasgow, Barrhead, Kilmalcolm)
79. Ross-shire (Dingwall, Stornaway, Tain, Alness, Invergorden)
80. Roxburghshire (Jedburgh, Hawick, Kelso, Melrose, Roxburgh)
81. Selkirkshire (Selkirk, Clovenfords, Galashiels)
82. Shetland (Lerwick, Scalloway, Baltasound)
83. Stirlingshire (Stirling, Falkirk, Grangemouth, Kilsyth, Bridge of Allan, Denny, Alva)
84. Sutherland (Dornoch, Helmsdale, Brora, Golspie, Lairg, Durness, Tongue)
85. West Lothian/Linlithgowshire (Linlithgow, Livingston, Bo'ness, Broxburn, Whitburn, Armadale, Bathgate)
86. Wigtownshire (Wigtown, Stranraer, Newton Stewart, Whithorn)

Tree Surgery, Tree Surgeons , Woodland Management, Tree Planting & Tree Advice. Conservation & Land Management
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Woodland Management - Gates & Fencing

Many woodlands have suffered from neglect over the last few decades, and for many of them woodland management often means replacing gates and repairing fencing.

Gates are essential in some woodlands where damaging trespassing is taking place. i.e. Where, in sensitive woodlands, there is illegal 4x4 driving, motor bike riding, horse riding and problems caused by fly tipping.

Deer can cause devastation in woodlands especially where there are newly planted trees or early coppice re-growth. This can happen where there are large winter populations or deer which strip bark from existing trees, or during the growing season they may graze on the leaves of planted trees, hedges and the new coppice shoots. One effective method of protection, other than keeping the population number down, is to surround areas to be protected with effective deer fencing. Similar problems can be caused by large rabbit populations.

Protecting a woodland public footpath from damaging use by vehicles and horses - Essex

Replacing gates and fencing
Securing private woodland - Herts