Many people ask us how to maintain a woodland and our answer is unfortunately not always the same. The best way to maintain a woodland depends on the specific goals you have for the land in question, which is why we are unable to provide a blanket answer that will apply to every area of woodland about which we are consulted. What we can tell you without any doubt is that the easiest way to manage an area of woodland is to enlist the help of a qualified arboricultural consultant such as a local tree surgeon.
Whether you ultimately decide to leave day-to-day woodland management decisions to an experienced consultant or take care of everything yourself, it is important to create a management plan that will allow you to achieve your primary objectives for the woodland. To find out how to get started with your plan, continue reading below.
Woodland Maintenance Tips: Creating an Effective Management Plan
In order to walk you through the process of creating an effective woodland management plan, we need to pick a purpose for the wooded area of land in our example. Let us assume that we wish to create a plan for an area of woodland that is to be managed for the benefit of local wildlife. In this case, we might proceed as follows:
- Assess – Before you can decide on a future path for the management of your woodland, you need to know what flora and fauna the site is currently hosting. Once you have had a thorough survey of the land conducted, it will be much easier for you to decide upon an appropriate goal for the land’s future management and to think of ways this goal can most easily be achieved. If, for example, you find an abundance of ferns, mosses and lichens, you will want to avoid any sudden changes or the use of heavy machinery. These species can take hundreds of years to establish themselves and are thus easily destroyed by imprudent woodland management.
- Research – There is no need to reinvent the wheel in every case so we always recommend starting a new management plan by referring to previous management policies employed by one’s predecessors. If the woodland is currently in decent condition this is, of course, a more appealing option to consider than if it is sadly neglected.
- Specify – Once you have surveyed the land, made a note of what is currently growing and living there, decided on an appropriate management goal for the future and researched historical management choices, you can begin to specify new management policies. When doing so, we suggest that you focus on the ones that will move you toward your primary goal with the greatest speed and efficiency.
If you do not have the necessary expertise to create an effective woodland management plan, whether for an area of land that is intended to benefit local wildlife or one that has another purpose, we recommend contacting a local tree surgeon.
Our qualified team of experienced Arborists offer sustainable and cost-effective forestry and arboriculture services. For the long-term health and success of your trees. From small urban gardens, large estates and anything in between.