We had been on the look out for a woodland to buy for quite some time. One that was in need of attention; somewhere we could make a difference by bringing a piece of land back to life. Comar Wood is 50 acres of ancient woodland planted with Sitka spruce and fitted the bill perfectly. So, back in 2017, Jamie and I decided this was the bit of land for us – and we bought it.
In this blog I’m going to try and document the adventure of managing Comar Wood. I want to share what I learn through experience as I put my ideas into practice. I’ve also been doing research into lots of aspects of woodlands and forestry that relate to Comar Wood, to help with my management and so that I can write interesting posts for you to read!
To start things off, here is a very brief introduction to the woodland, a sort of idiot’s guide. I’ll do a more detailed post for non-idiots soon…
Comar Wood can be found on a steep hillside just above the floodplain of the River Glass in Scotland. We own 20 hectares (50 acres) of Comar Wood.
About 70 percent of the woodland contains Sitka spruce trees. These are the conifers that you find in most forestry plantations in Scotland, but they are not a native species – they are actually from North America. They are very useful trees, which is why people keep planting them.
However, in Comar Wood the spruce trees have had quite a damaging effect. Comar Wood is ‘ancient woodland’. This means that it has been continuously wooded since at least 1750 and because of this it has retained many special species of plant, as well as undisturbed soils. The spruce trees were planted in the mid-1980s and have damaged the ancient woodland by blocking out most of the light so that very few other species survive.
Fortunately, not all of the woodland was planted with spruce and there are pockets where the ancient woodland has survived. These show what the rest of the wood should look like if it wasn’t covered in spruce! The native trees that we have most of are silver birch. We also have oak, rowan, alder, aspen, bird cherry and hazel, plus a few others. These native trees let in a lot more light than the spruce so there are ferns, mosses, grasses and many flowering plants growing beneath them.
So – the plan is to give the woodland a new lease of life by taking out the spruce, letting the light back in and establishing woodland with many different types of tree. This is going to be a gradual process. It is usually a good idea to let light back in gradually so that things in the woodland have time to adjust.
What we plan to do is often referred to as ‘ancient woodland restoration’ but I prefer to think of it more as woodland renewal. We are not planning to revert the woodland back to a past condition but rather to allow it to develop into a diverse woodland that can be a haven for woodland flora and fauna into the future. The intention is for it to continue to be a productive woodland – producing timber, firewood, etc. Evidence suggests that Comar Wood has been managed – or perhaps ravaged – for timber in the past (further research needed).
People often think of woodlands as being either ‘commercial’ productive forestry or ‘amenity’ woods for wildlife and recreation, but I hope to show with Comar Wood that you can have both things at once.
We have a lot to do and a lot to learn. I hope to pass on what I learn from others and from my own experiences at Comar Wood. Keep an eye out for the latest on the blog if you have been inspired to see where this journey takes us!