There was a small Hazel copse that was planted around 12 years ago and is planned that these trees will be coppiced.
Today we were extending the size of this Hazel copse by planting 100 extra trees.
Adrian had marked out where the trees should be planted with Canes so we set about the business of screefing around the canes and planting as usual.
The soil was of good quality and screefing was good. The bracken grows extensively here and so grass tussocks have not formed.
Fortunately, the bracken is in its dieback state at this time of year so was easy to clear away. There were just a few brambles to watch out for.
We were finished this task by noon where we stopped for lunch.
In the afternoon we were tasked with braking down some fences. There was a fence that was previously used to keep sheep either in the uphill or downhill section of the valley but is no longer required.
The fence in some places was in tact but in other areas had been scooped into a crumpled ball by a digger. Untangling these balls took a while longer but was an enjoyable task to tackle nonetheless.

Fence removal process

The steps for breaking down and removing a fence are outlined below:

1. Adorn PPE (safety glasses and gloves)
2. Take some bolt cutters and remove the staples from the stobs
3. Remove the fence wire and cut into small sections
4. Fold the fence over in a concertina fashion in about 1m lengths
5. stack the fence "cubes" in an area where it can be uplifted
6. There may be a top and bottom wire to the fence. This can be removed in the same way but coiled up rather than folded over. These wires hold their manufactured coiling shape and can whip around so PPE is especially essential for this step

wildlife highlights

• Raven