Woodland... clear the floor?!

[Loadabullocks]

Should you clear the dead wood / fallen trees off the ground? (Using a wood chipper?)

Goals are to promote growth of younger trees, grass and general health of existing trees.

* Also several dead trees still standing! *

 

[Kidds]

Which do you want, grass or trees?
Not likely to get both, nature says so.

 

[Loadabullocks]

Which do you want, grass or trees?
Not likely to get both, nature says so.

Impressive amount of both currently. I’m hoping more young trees will poke through

 

[Tomr10]

If trees over populate they will start killing each other

 

[Ffermer Bach]

As far as nature is concerned, leave the fallen stuff to rot down, it's great for all the insects and fungi, as to whether that is best for timber production, probably not. I am inclined to leave dead trees here, and let them fall naturally. I read many years ago, that in true virgin woodland, there is far more dead stuff lying about than you ever find here in woods in the UK.

I would be inclined to say you have been out taking photos in Cae Dan Ty, but you have far more grass than me!

 

[Ribble]

Promoting certain trees young or old is just a case of thinning it out, removing the less desirable trees nearby, which are competitors for light and ground resources.

As kidds said, trees and grass are somewhat contradictory. Trees prefer a fungal soil full of dead rotting wood, grasses prefer a bacterial soil full of animal manure.

It sounds like what you want is a kind of silvopasture - a balance between the two environments.

 

[renewablejohn]

I used to think leave the wood to get on with its own life and started with a wood similar to yours. Within 10 years it was like a thicket of brambles and the trees were starting to die with a high proportion of wind blow. Took the decision the wood needed to be managed by removing the brambles and dead trees and now after another 10 years I have a healthy wood with natural regeneration which I control to the species I want to retain. Woods like that are a real fire hazard in a hot summer but then fire is a natural rebirth of a forest. With my farmhouse next to the wood a fire would not be welcome.

 

[Dry Rot]

Ideally, the crowns should not touch so all get the optimum amount of sunlight which means thinning out dominant trees and suppressed trees. That will surely mean extracting the larger timber where possible (fire wood, timber, etc) and leaving anything that is uneconomical. (With thanks to Cyril Hart).