The Woodland Trust come to visit

It is a scary thing for me, having dreamed about a project for many years, and then suddenly, having spent a ton of money on it, being faced with committing to how that project will look over the next fifty to a hundred years. 

I imagine this is how people who self build their dream home feel - you get one shot at it and you have to commit - and you live with the consequences for the remainder of your days. So, now I put it like that, my dilemma doesn't seem so bad , I have to plant some trees, it isn't the end of the world, but I still want to get it right, I want this place to look beautiful - it already does in many ways and I want to enhance that, not replace it. 

I don't have the skills or experience for the job in hand really, I am learning things for sure, but I definitely need help and advise. Top of my list of advisers were the Woodland Trust. I had done a little planting with them previously in 2005 when my kids were toddlers, we sponsored and then help plant a couple of acres in Polyphemus Wood in Lancashire. 

Anyway, I put a call out to my contacts at the Woodland Trust soon into the project. As ever, they were super helpful and offered to come and visit - then came the virus and everything stopped. 

As it happened, this did give me some time to day dream and plan - so at least when they arrived I had some ideas. 

Hannah Marshall from the Woodland Trust came over in late July, along with her young pup Lunar to explore and discuss what we might do. 

The meeting was brilliantly reassuring. I feel much less scared. Hannah's take on this is to experiment a little - and that actually it really isn't all fixed in stone, have a go, try some things and if it doesn't work, try some other things. 

I am , by nature, a little impatient, but also, I know I will die before too many more decades have passed by, and trees take forever to grow. If I want to see my woodland be a woodland, I do need to crack on. I feel under pressure to go go go. 

Hannah is right though, there will be a woodland soon, it just might not be complete, it might not be what I first intended, but there will be woodland, and wildlife and it will happen but perhaps not all at once and not in the way I first intend or imagine. Its a moving target and an evolving design (that nature will eventually over-rule). 

As well as reassuring me, actually there are other benefits to Hannahs approach, it actually gives me more to do and to enjoy as the years pass by. If things don't grow well, or simply don't look right,  we can try something else. 

I still want (and need) to finalise a plan though and I now feel ready to put something rough together and for Hannah and her colleagues to comment on it and refine it. I have no idea which species to pick other than the basic native broadleaves - particularly the low lying planting. It will be great to get a mix of things to try. Also, the Woodland Trust have access to tried and tested tree suppliers so I don't need to worry about validating those. 

Hannah thought the site was beautiful, so we now know that as well as being smart, she has good taste too. She has also done a great job of raising young Lunar - who was exceptionally well behaved around the local wildlife and the four young horses that are currently resident - despite them repeatedly teasing her. 

I look forward to sharing the final planting scheme sometime soon. Thank you Hannah and the Woodland Trust.