In the winter months it’s difficult to retain a connection to nature, and to one another, when the weather is poor and motivation is low.
But it’s a critical time of the year for tree planting. Trees are dormant or approaching dormancy
in winter, so they aren’t actively growing. This means their energy is directed towards root
growth instead of leaves and buds.
As our seeds2trees volunteers know, trees that have been grown in pots can be planted at any
time of the year. But if the ground is frozen or waterlogged, we delay planting until the soil
warms up or dries out. Trees will be absolutely fine kept in a pot until this is possible.
Planting a potted tree in winter is a good move, as we don’t have to water them regularly
(thanks to the UK weather) and there are fewer pests doing the rounds. Trees are able to
establish a nice healthy root system before breaking into new growth in spring.
It’s been particularly difficult over the last couple of weeks, when very hard frosts meant that
digging to plant trees was almost impossible. But our team at Living Woods know that it’s
important to keep that connection to nature alive, and our volunteers have been doing their
best to keep motivation alive and well!
Laura at the Hexham event
One particularly delightful event was part of the Winter Tide programme at Hexham Library.
This was a fantastic opportunity for an uplifting range of creative, wellbeing and skills sharing
for green and environmental groups to come together and showcase their projects, allowing
local people to find out how they can retain a connection to nature and to each other through
the cold weather.
At our stall we talked to visitors about how we create and care for the woodland of today and the future. We explained what our volunteers do and organised a tree-
identification competition.
The next event to take place within the Winter Tide programme organised by the library and
part funded by Natural England, will be a mindful photography walk around the Sele park in
Hexham.
We were represented by our community woodlands project manager, Laura Waugh. Her role is
to be the point of call for all of our dedicated volunteers and also doing what she loves most, to
be out in the woods, working to improve the health of woodlands, while sustainably harvesting
green woodwork material.
She said: “It was a fantastic morning in the library, engaging with new people about Living
Woods. There is a clear desire for connection with nature and woodlands during this season.
Winter in the woods is a magical time, there is so much stillness to enjoy, we get to breathe in
the fresh air and blow the cobwebs away. It is also our most productive time of the year, as it is
the best time to carry out work when the trees are dormant”.