Of the thirty-four acres here, seven acres will remain open space. This will form multiple clearings and ten meter wide rides between each of the five major blocks of woodland and around the site perimeter. This means that there will be lots of woodland edges, which will have a variable width border of shrubby species and smaller trees. These will provide shelter and food for wildlife, much of the wildlife in a woodland inhabits the edges rather than the high canopy or the shaded interior.
The seven acres (20%) of open space is a requirement of the EWCO funding which is paying for the trees. I’m very happy with this, it’s what I would have done anyway.
What to do with seven acres of open space, currently agricultural grass? I’m not sure yet but it’s a nice problem to have.
For a few years there’s the opportunity to make silage (or hay) for livestock feed. This isn’t my area of expertise but I understand that as “weed” species infiltrate the grass, the silage becomes less desirable.
I think that the site characteristics (soil, aspect) make it suitable for wild flower seeding. Another thing of which I have little knowledge or experience but I’m certainly going to learn.
Livestock grazing would probably be impractical as immature trees would have to be protected from the livestock. This could be achievable by temporary electric fencing but this might not be practical because it’s not a single block of space that could be easily fenced.
Creating some wildflower meadow is on the cards for some parts of the site. Wildflowers might arrive naturally but they will probably struggle to thrive amongst the tough agricultural grass which dominates at present. With some help and encouragement I think wildflowers could thrive here.
I’ll turn my attention to this question once I have the tree planting under control. Ideas on a postcard please!