Tree Felling along the A49

Tree Felling along the A49

Large scale tree felling will be taking place along the A49 at Queenswood Country Park and Arboretum over the next few weeks. This is being done to remove diseased ash and other trees that are at risk of falling into the road.

Safety

Traffic management will be in place to ensure the safety of road users and of the contractors working adjacent to the road to the north of the entrance to Queenswood.

In the Arboretum

This year we will also be removing a number of birch and oak from the Arboretum to open up vistas and make room for new planting. These are native trees which self-seeded and were allowed to grow while the specimen trees of the Arboretum were still small. As the specimen trees have matured, they now need more space to develop and flourish. It is important to ensure the Arboretum does not become over-crowded and that each tree can grow and mature.

Work will also include thinning trees at Cotterell’s Folly, a group of particularly fine Scots pines within the Arboretum. They are being thinned to allow the remaining specimens to room to grow and the understory is being removed in this area so that the trees can be better displayed.

In the Native Woodland - Northwood & Southwood

We are also undertaking thinning work at the top of Northwood and in an area below the coppice area in the Southwood. This work is part of the ongoing 10 year Woodland Management plan approved by Forestry Commission and Natural England. The work is being undertaken to let light into woodland floor, encourage age and structural diversity, create standing and lying deadwood and allow remaining trees more space to develop.

We are also removing a line of trees from below the viewpoint as they are closing off this much-loved view.

We will also be ‘halo thinning’ around a number of lime trees. These are important native trees and we want them to develop and recieve get more direct sunlight as this may encourage them to produce viable seed which will help their very long term survival. Limes stopped reproducing by seed hundreds of years ago and this may have been one of the reasons they went into decline (they were once a dominant tree in this part of the country).

Coppicing

From November, the Queenswood woodlands volunteer team will be starting this year’s coppice work. This involves cutting down a ‘coppice compartment’ which will regrow over the following years. Cutting a compartment each year on a cycle creates different types of habitat within the woodland to give the most benefit to wildlife. The resulting firewood and woodchip will be used on site and be on sale to the public. This work is continuing the long running tradition of coppice working at Queenswood which takes place in the south wood each year.

Much of the work, aside from the coppicing, has been carried out this year by local company Say it with Wood.