Planting Trees

[ollie989898]

Your son is a wise man and will go far

Undoubtedly but you watch the silly beggar go and keep sheep on that same field in a minute.

 

[BobTheSmallholder]

Why not do some research into silvopasture and agroforestry? Trees can be a massive bonus to your production by providing shelter, biodiversity and mixed cropping. Fruit trees can be producing heavy crops in 3-5yrs, underplanted with other fruits you can be having crops in 1-2yrs. You could be getting an arable crop, a firewood crop and several different fruit crops all from the same land in the same year... lots of research shows a 30-40% increase in overall productivity from these methods.

 

[Tubbylew]

I've not got an issue with planting trees per se. but as nice a thing to do as it is woodland in the uk is massively restricted, if I plant a tree I'd like to think my grand children may be able to benefit from it as a crop like any other not just as a shrine to humanities greed. Planting hedges is a fantastic idea, but the majority of fields here are around five acres anyway.

 

[texelburger]

With all this tree planting and the arrival of ELMS which,no doubt,will be encouraging us to produce less and do more environmental schemes aren't we going just going to export more food production abroad to the detriment of the climate as a whole.

 

[Stw88]

With all this tree planting and the arrival of ELMS which,no doubt,will be encouraging us to produce less and do more environmental schemes aren't we going just going to export more food production abroad to the detriment of the climate as a whole.

Yes but that doesnt matter! Weve ticked the box and will save the planet! What we do on this island is a drop in the ocean to what the likes of china and india do to the climate.

 

[farmerm]

Why not do some research into silvopasture and agroforestry? Trees can be a massive bonus to your production by providing shelter, biodiversity and mixed cropping. Fruit trees can be producing heavy crops in 3-5yrs, underplanted with other fruits you can be having crops in 1-2yrs. You could be getting an arable crop, a firewood crop and several different fruit crops all from the same land in the same year... lots of research shows a 30-40% increase in overall productivity from these methods.

Are you telling us from positive experience or just what you have read about small research plots.... Anyone can plant a fruit tree and get a crop of fruit, producing a commercially viable fruit in both quantity and of a quality that is marketable is a much more difficult game.

 

[Fast Farmer]

Shropshire County Council recently advertised a new full-time position for someone to 'investigate novel ways to plant trees' - salary £33K per annum. I pointed out that for that money they could plant a lot the old fashioned way! I despair!

TBF Shropshire council usually do a free tree scheme every winter, I've applied this year for 300 hedging plants and trees, still waiting to see if I'm successful in getting them, so at least they're doing something good

 

[Exfarmer]

How many farmers are growing barley at £ 135 a tonne. Costing about £100 a tonne to grow when you could grow willow or poplar for chipping worth £130 /tonne. Once its planted you cant stop it growing.

You jest of course, many acres of willow were put in East Anglia and since ploughed out as the returns rarely covered cost of harvesting.

 

[Exfarmer]

Why not do some research into silvopasture and agroforestry? Trees can be a massive bonus to your production by providing shelter, biodiversity and mixed cropping. Fruit trees can be producing heavy crops in 3-5yrs, underplanted with other fruits you can be having crops in 1-2yrs. You could be getting an arable crop, a firewood crop and several different fruit crops all from the same land in the same year... lots of research shows a 30-40% increase in overall productivity from these methods.

Fruit trees may produce heavy crops, but can you sell them? I doubt it, they will be ridden with various sorts of maggot , Coddling moth, plum moth etc. Yes you dould spray to suit the supermarkets but underplanting. Different crops , good luck with that!

 

[farmerm]

With all this tree planting and the arrival of ELMS which,no doubt,will be encouraging us to produce less and do more environmental schemes aren't we going just going to export more food production abroad to the detriment of the climate as a whole.

Yes

 

[farmerm]

TBF Shropshire council usually do a free tree scheme every winter, I've applied this year for 300 hedging plants and trees, still waiting to see if I'm successful in getting them, so at least they're doing something good

I am still waiting to hear too

 

[kiwi pom]

I had to smile wryly to myself today. The National Trust did some tree planting today on some wet ground next to to a river. This was the number of cars that turned up to do the job:
View attachment 927234
Must have been 1 hell of a planting job, especially as they were told to take their lunch with them.


All this (9 cars, 1 person in each, plus a Trust pickup and quad bike), all looked like well paid salaried staff from the NT, the EA and who knows where else, just to plant 500 trees (willows and alders)!
How many million are they intending to plant? Going to be bloody expensive and take an awfully long time at this rate.

A good pro tree planter could probably do what they did in a day, in an hour.

To be fair though, they shouldn't all be travelling in the same vehicle at the moment due to the sickness.

 

[kiwi pom]

And in a few years when it's over supplied will cost a fortune to put the ground right again

Assuming you had the permission to clear it, which wouldn't happen in the UK, it doesn't take that much to reinstate it. There's been a lot of forestry return to dairying here over the last 10 years (slowing down now) it's no big deal if you know what you're doing.

 

[Hindsight]

How much carbon was released driving to the place to plant the trees?

But many a warm glow saving the planet.

 

[Raider112]

With all this tree planting and the arrival of ELMS which,no doubt,will be encouraging us to produce less and do more environmental schemes aren't we going just going to export more food production abroad to the detriment of the climate as a whole.

It's lunacy but it will keep the UK in carbon credit while causing far more damage in South America. If they were really serious about saving the planet they would let us grow the food and give the money to Brazil to leave the rainforests alone.

 

[texelburger]

It's lunacy but it will keep the UK in carbon credit while causing far more damage in South America. If they were really serious about saving the planet they would let us grow the food and give the money to Brazil to leave the rainforests alone.

Agree 100 %

 

[farmerm]

It's lunacy but it will keep the UK in carbon credit while causing far more damage in South America. If they were really serious about saving the planet they would let us grow the food and give the money to Brazil to leave the rainforests alone.

Western societies solution to most environmental issues is to export the problem, either directly or indirectly. Out of sight, out of mind.

 

[bluebell]

should be alot more trees planted in urban areas? i remember many years ago when talking about planting young trees, it was reconned that only 1 in 4 planted would reach maturity, its not the planting so much as the aftercare in the young trees first few years before it gets going ?

 

[delilah]

I had to smile wryly to myself today. The National Trust did some tree planting today on some wet ground next to to a river. This was the number of cars that turned up to do the job:
View attachment 927234
Must have been 1 hell of a planting job, especially as they were told to take their lunch with them.


All this (9 cars, 1 person in each, plus a Trust pickup and quad bike), all looked like well paid salaried staff from the NT, the EA and who knows where else, just to plant 500 trees (willows and alders)!
How many million are they intending to plant? Going to be bloody expensive and take an awfully long time at this rate.

tbf, I would guess that it was a NT volunteer day, most of those vehicles would have been folks come from home to do a days volunteering.

 

[Ffermer Bach]

tbf, I would guess that it was a NT volunteer day, most of those vehicles would have been folks come from home to do a days volunteering.

lovely for them to have a day in the countryside, sometimes I think we forget how lucky we are