Woodland Nature Trail
Stop L
The area that you see here was clear-felled of Norway Spruce in 1977 and replanted with Pedunculate Oak Quercus robur, Sweet Chestnut Castanea sativa and Hornbeam Carpinus betula. Various conifer species were also planted to act as "nurse" trees to the hardwoods.
Because these are faster-growing, they give shelter and protection to to the slower-growing hardwood then, when the hardwood is growing strongly, the conifer can be felled. A variety of conifer species was used but many of these have perished and many are lost in the impenetrable tangle of branches that typifies a young plantation.
Rhododendron and Larch removal has radically changed this area. It is to be replanted with native species.
To the left of the path is a small group of Roble Beech Nothophagus obliqua, planted in 1984. They can be recognised by the herring-bone pattern of their branches.
It is a native of the mountainous areas of South America and belongs to a group of mainly evergreen trees known as the Southern Beeches. There is another Nothophagus in Barnes Dell - N. procera or Rauli.
