Howard Court is a beautiful old farm house set on nine acres of pasture land in North Yorkshire, between Stokesley and Great Ayton. The River Leven passes through part of the land, and there are noticeable bumps from the traditional “ridge and furrow” plowing on the main field, which is home to the occasional sheep.
We are planting a shelterbelt of native British trees common to the area, which will run along the western border of the farm. This will sequester carbon dioxide from the air, give local wildlife new habitat, provide a windbreak for the sheep, and generally make the place look lovely.
The shelterbelt will then flare out into a woodland area, which will be over an acre of Alder, Sessile Oak, Silver Birch, Wild Cherry, Crab Apple, Hazel, Hawthorn, Holly, Elder, Blackthorn, Guelder Rose, and Downy Birch. We’ve also harvested some willow branches from two old collapsed Crack Willow and Pussy Willow trees nearby. Those trees had fallen into the river and didn’t stand a chance, but by cutting trimmings from the tree we could replant the river bank, and hopefully prevent further erosion.
Some tree planting was previously undertaken on a small section north of the river, but the drought of 2018 claimed about 50% of the saplings. We’ve collected all the empty tubes and stakes for reuse, and have adopted the remaining ~400 saplings as our own, to be maintained, watered, and cared for just like our newly planted ~1,700 saplings.
