Harvested timber awaiting road shipment to the saw mill in 2010.
The rather stark appearance of the hillside after timber clearance in 2010.
Re-planting occurred soon after harvesting was complete and there are pictures showing the young trees here, taken on 25th July 2010 when I made a visit with Ann and Dean. The weather was splendid. The young trees were gamely trying to establish themselves. Limited use had been made of chemicals to control weevils which nibble at the tender plants and can cause untold damage.
"... young trees gamely trying to establish themselves."
It's often necessary to carry out maintenance after harvesting and a number of tasks were tackled. This included repairs to the stock-proof fencing, clearance of the various drains and repairs to internal roads on the plantation. The junction with the public road also required re-surfacing.
The resurfaced junction with the public road.
After replanting, Fountain Forestry (who are the professional managers of the woodland) continued to visit and they ensured that any essential actions were carried out. Heather is sometimes a problem as it can compete with young trees for water and other nutrients. This can be controlled by careful spraying.
On 26th February 2014, I visited the woodland with the forester, Rob MacCurrach, to see how matters were proceeding. The United Kingdom had been having very wet weather with exceptionally high winds and we both wanted to assess the damage to the standing trees caused by 'Wind Blow'. The weather during our visit varied between wet and very wet with some dry spells but it wasn't too cold. It was gratifying to find that damage to date had been rather less than anticipated. The Ty Gwyn woodland is in an exposed upland area of Wales where it is prudent to expect some losses. Continuing growth in the mature areas had been very satisfactory.
The view of the sky from within the mature area.
In the replanted areas, although there is some variation in growth rates, the young trees have established well, with healthy trees growing vigorously.
The 2010 Planting is establishing well.
Pictures taken during the visit are here. All-in-all, a very satisfactory trip.
My Pictures
2003.
2006.
2008.
2009.
Harvesting (1).
Harvesting (2).
Replanting 2010.
Progress in 2014.
