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3. Canopy

Windbreaks, Veg, Canopy, Shrubs
natureworks.org.uk/talks/wildlifetrust

Bluebell wood

1. Survey 👀
2. Design 🦄
3. Canopy 🌳

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, embedded work may have other licenses.

Outline

  1. Windbreaks
  2. Veg
  3. Canopy
  4. Ground prep
  5. Shrubs & ground cover
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1. Windbreaks

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Protect your plants so that they can grow

Windbreak hedge

Thick rose hedge windbreak

  • Plant for final height & width
  • Plant for aspect
  • Calculate height
  • Use natives where possible
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Dead hedge

Dead hedge on slope

  • Windbreak
  • Habitat
  • Food source
  • Brash holder!
  • Alternative nurse tree
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Windbreak height

Illustration of hedge heights & protection

  • Height protects 8x length
  • Eg 2m high protects 16m long
  • Sequence extends protection
  • Double thickness if windy
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Aspect dictates height

Screenshot sun surveying app

  • Taller hedges North & East
  • West sunlight more valuable
  • Calculate sunlight eg Sun Surveyor
  • Check prevailing wind!
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Windbreak profile & gaps

Illustration showing staggered gap

  • Vertical profile better protection
  • Baffle/island gap
  • Staggered gap 👈
  • Angled gap
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2. Veg

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Veg is structural! Get productive early.

Perennial veg

Close up of kale leaf

  1. Nutritious, low maintenance
  2. Near kitchen
  3. Beds 1.2m max width
  4. Wood chip paths
  5. Experiment alternatives
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  • Hoe paths
  • Use suitable ground cover
  • Feed & water to improve crop

Top 10 Perennial Veg

  1. Caucasian Spinach
  2. Day Lillies
  3. Welsh Onion
  4. Garden Sorrel
  5. Good King Henry
  6. Perennial Kale
  7. Perennial Leek
  8. Siberian Purslane
  9. Turkish Rocket
  10. Wild Garlic
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Perennial veg links

Screenshot of Backyard Larder website

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3. Canopy

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Canopy

Rootstock chart

  • Windbreaks!!
  • Spacing ¼ to ½ average canopy diameter
  • Choose right rootstock
  • Pollinating partners
  • Measure twice, plant once
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Species

Prickly Sweet Chestnuts

  1. Fruit trees
  2. Nut trees
  3. Other trees

Choose according to crop, size, position & wildlife.

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1. Fruit trees

Screenshot of OrangePippin.com

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Unusual fruits

Hawthorn haws

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2. Nut trees

Nut Wizard nut harvesting cage on a stick in action

  • Harvest
  • Squirrels
  • Hazel
  • Sweet Chestnut
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Nutrition

Crop Yield cal Protein Carb Fat Fibre
Wheat 8.0 340 13 72 3 11
Hazelnut 2.5 630 15 17 61 10
Chestnut 2.5 213 3 45 2 8
  • Yield, tonnes per hectare
  • Calories, per 100g
  • Weight, grams per 100g
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3. Other trees

Close-up Italian Alder bark

  • Nitrogen fixing
  • Windbreaks
  • Habitat
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Habitat

Oak tree

Sideways screenshot of insects that use oak as a host plant

Database of Insects and their Food plants

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4. Ground prep

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Deturf

Card mulch by path, weighted down

  • S: Manual
  • M: Cardboard mulch
  • L: Turf cutter
  • XL: Mini-digger
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No more plastic!

Deturf as landscaping

Digger scraping grass in field

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5. Shrubs & ground cover

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Planting

Circles marked out with powdered lime on bark mulch

  1. Layer bark mulch
  2. Plant shrubs
  3. 3-5 ground cover per m²
  4. Temporary ground cover
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Shrubs

Backlit red gooseberries on bush

  • Soft fruit
  • Windbreak
  • Nitrogen fixing
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  • Autumn Olive does all 3, “stacking functions”

Ground cover timing

Propagation area with plants in pots

  • One area at a time
  • 3-5 plants per m²
  • 10m x 10m = 400 plants
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Propagate

Cuttings in ground, mulched with hay

  • Much cheaper. Aim for:
    • Easy plants
    • Native plants
    • Ground cover plants
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Weeding

Pile of comfrey leaves around base of young fruit tree

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  • More weeding first couple of years
  • Weed is just a plant in the place you don't want it
  • Eg Creeping Buttercup as a ground cover

Canopy exercise

Possible plants

  • In groups, make a list of possible plants for your chosen EcoPark area
  • Consider wildlife & humans
  • Use PFAF, spreadsheet, Plant Atlas etc.
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Key takeaways

  • Plant for final size
  • Tree spacing
  • Continual management
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The End

Mass of white flowers of Stitchwort

1. Survey 👀
2. Design 🦄
3. Canopy 🌳

hello@natureworks.org.uk
natureworks.org.uk

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Outline

  1. Windbreaks
  2. Veg
  3. Canopy
  4. Ground prep
  5. Shrubs & ground cover
2 / 33
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