‘Tis the season to be planting
Friday 27th January 2012
© NWT
Keep your fingers crossed it doesn’t snow this February as a team of estates officers and volunteers from Northumberland Wildlife Trust aim to have planted over 5,000 trees and 250m of hedgerow at 9 locations around the Region by the end of next month - not to mention the trees which will be felled to make way for the new ones.
In January, 950 trees were planted at the Trust’s Briarwood Banks reserve (5km south-east of Bardon Mill), to replace the 1,000 non-native trees, including beech, sycamore, douglas fir and sitka spruce which were felled during the course of last year; at the same time 180 trees including hazel, hawthorn and guelder rose at Colt Crag reservoir (near Gunnerton), were planted by the team on behalf of Northumbrian Water Ltd.
Still to go into the ground are a staggering 2,400 trees at Whitelee Moor, (between Catcleugh Reservoir and Carter Bar); the willow, rowan, hazel, aspen and downy birch trees (downy as opposed to silver birch due to the upland nature of the site) will help create a new woodland in one of the cleughs.
A total of 400 trees and 50m of hedgerow will be planted at Weetslade Country Park (situated to the north of Gosforth Park); down the road at Holywell Pond (to the north of Holywell Village) sycamores will be felled and 300 trees and 80m of hedgerow will be planted by the Holywell Warden Group and volunteers with 20 shrubs and 20m of hedgerow being planted at the Trust’s Newsham Pond reserve, at the edge of Blyth.
Two Trust reserves along Druridge Bay will also see a flurry of activity in February with the planting of 270 trees, including crab apple and holly and 100m of hedging, at Hauxley and a further 270 at Druridge Pools, including bird cherry, hazel and spindle plus the thinning of the shelterbelt
along the western boundary.
Last but not least, 300 trees will go into the ground at the Trust’s newest reserves, Broadoak Quarry near Ebchester in Partnership with Tarmac Ltd.