# Common Tree Planting Misconceptions

As somebody new to woodland creation and restoration, I have been learning quickly thanks to the advice of several experts in various fields. This information clashed with many of my preconceptions, and I see the same confusion perpetrated in print media and social media.

## Planting Close Together

I have heard a lot of concern about the proximity of saplings being planted, where the concern is that every sapling will not have room to grow to its full potential.

The truth is, not every sapling is going to reach maturity. Several things could go wrong: it could be eaten, suffer from drought, suffer from a warm spring followed by harsh cold snaps, it could be trampled by a deer, even slugs and insects can eat the leaves.

You could spray pesticides everywhere and put up expensive fencing all over the countryside, but the more natural approach is to recreate what nature does: trees produce far more seeds than are expected to survive. From thousands of acorns only a few will find the right conditions to germinate, and they may well be in competition with each other, and other saplings nearby.

When an area is “overstocked” with saplings, they can be “thinned out” in phases over time, until a healthy tree canopy exists - the first phase of creating a woodland. The alternative would be planting exactly the number of trees you hope for, and if anything goes wrong you’re just left with a field with some trees in it.

The stocking density depends on the conditions of the site. If its a sheltered location and not many losses are expected, you might plant 1,200/ha. If it’s incredibly exposed to wind and cold, like the Orkney Islands (something we’re investigating right now with the Woodland Trust), then you might go up to something extreme like 3,000/ha, knowing that a lot of them will not make it.

A more common number is ~1,600/ha, with a guidance survival rate of 80%. When 20% of those saplings fail they can be replaced in the first few years, and eventually the trees will be big enough to look after theirselves.

## Tree Planting vs “Rewilding”

The term “rewilding” has received a lot of attention in the last few years, being used to cover everything from reintroducing wolves in the highlands, to letting your grass grow a few extra months to help the bees.

The proliferation of this term causes a lot of confusion, but one common meaning is: instead of planting saplings, we should leave the land alone and it would turn into woodland through a natural canprocess. Some consider this to be superior to tree planting, and many think “tree planting organizations” are “doing it wrong”, but its one tool in the arsenal that is used when appropriate.

This process is properly known as natural reconolisation, and it can work a treat when the conditions are right:

1. There needs to be a source of native trees nearby.
2. There cannot be too many browsing animals (deer, rabbits, or livestock).

If there are not enough native saplings in close-proximity, leaving this land alone will not accomplish much, certainly not on a timescale relevant to the urgency of the climate and biodiversity crises. It can even be a hinderance, as invasive species can take over the space, like rhododendrons jumping from nearby gardens to shade out any seeds that are brought in.

Natural regeneration is used by tree planting organizations in interesting combinations. Sometimes a project will be entirely natural reconolisation with no tree planting (like most of High Wood), but planting close to woodlands with lower stocking densities can combine the best of both.

For example, at High Wood we have some clearfelled areas that will not establish a canopy by theirself, and we have a lack of diversity in species left in the woodland. We can expect to see Oak, Ash, Willow, Holly and Hazel pop up naturally, but by planting we can bring back Cornish Elm, Plymouth Pear, Wild Service Tree, Yew, and Hornbeam which will be far more tolerant of high temperatures expected in upcoming years.

Through controlling the stocking density we can leave 20% of space open, as clearings or as larger gaps between what we’re planting, so that if seeds (either in the soil or brought over by birds) want to give it a shot, they can. We are planting about 900/ha which is far less than usual, but this will boost the regeneration of those areas over the next few years instead of over decades.

The short aswer is that tree planting and natural regeneration are not better or worse than each other, and they are not mutually exclusive. They are factors that should be kept in mind when making a woodland creation plan, and professional ecologists and foresters are on the case more often than not.

## Plastic Guards

Last year I wrote about why the woodland creation and forestry industry has been using plastic guards for when alternatives exist. The short version is that the alternatives fit into two categories “expensive and ineffective” or “expensive and experimental”. Since then, prices have improved, and many organizations has have a chance to experiment more, so you will see more cardboard, bio plastic, and even wool guards popping up.

I got a newsletter email through from NextGen saying that they will guarantee their product for five years, meaning if they degrade before then they will pay to replace the guards, and the saplings! This is huge, and I imagine it will see a rush of people willing to give this a shot.

Sadly they are still prohibitively expensive for some projects. For us, we use a mixture of government grants and funding from companies such as Ecologi. When we have government grants covering the bare minimum with Ecologi helping with the rest, we can afford these more sustainable options, but when there is just the one funding source we are limited on price and simply cannot afford to use them.

A lot could be written about this, but after extensive research we will be focusing on using guards that can be collected and recycled this planting season, and will be using a lot more sustainable guards next year, based purely on how many of our projects have limited funding this time.

I have heard whispers that changes in regulation may be coming, making biodegradable / sustainable tree guards required. This means the economies of scale will kick in, making them more attainable for all organizations in the short term.

TBC