Alder
The area was planted with Norway Spruce by the previous woodland owner. The stand was already windblown when the community bought Dronley Wood in 2019.
About Alder
But why did that happen?
The soil in this area is an imperfectly drained Brown Forest Soil. Imperfectly drained soils are not suitable for Norway Spruce since it develops very shallow root plates. Because of that, Norway Spruce becomes very susceptible to windblow on these soils and because of this the stand got severely damaged by windblow in 2013.
Alder Management
The area was clear-felled by a contractor in Autumn 2019 then Garry and our volunteers cleared the brash by hand. We re-planted the site with Alder in flat areas as they are very wet. The drier areas have been re-planted with Silver Birch. Both species form a pioneer wood. The parts of the site that grow very well can be under-planted with climax tree species such as Oak (in the future). Both species help to develop Dronley Community Woodland to a mixed wood.