Protect Earth Skip to content Colchester, England
Upp Hall Farm is a gorgeous site found near Coggeshall in Essex. There is very little broad-leaved woodland in the surrounding area. The land is mostly arable farmland with some hedges. A footpath crosses the site so this needed to be taken into account when planting.
Protect Earth came on board to create a new, natural feeling woodland with a nice wide canopy and understory for the landowners.
Fund the work still needed to complete this critical work.
The landowner very kindly took the photos and carried out this year’s survival survey for us. They reported that the trees have been doing well depite the drought, with no sign of further losses. From the photos we can see rowan, oak and alder doing particularly well, with acorns on some of the oaks. However, some trees have been lost due to deer debarking.
Despite everything, the survival rate here is still very similar to last year.
Our team visited this farm on a beautiful day in July. It was good to see that most surviving trees were growing well and looking very healthy.
The Beaver Scouts’ bug hotel was still doing its job, helping to increase biodiversity in the area.
The landowners were happy to carry out this survey for us. The first area Protect Earth planted had done especially well with few dead trees, and most of the saplings already growing out of the guards. The second area had more failures, with the part nearest the farmhouse performing better than that further away. No particular species seemed to have suffered more. There have also been a few additional trees (field maple) that have self seeded from the nearby green lane in the lower survival area.
Whist carrying out the survey, the landowners also carried out some simple maintenance, straightening guards and stakes as needed.
The landowners had placed a couple of corrugated metal panels in amongst the trees and have seen field voles and shrews nesting in the shelter belt areas, plus barred grass snakes. Lots of other wild plants have also established - most interestingly toothwort spotted last year! A local Beaver Scout group visited to forage for sticks & pine cones in a nearby more established woodland, then they made the big ‘bug hotel’ to add to the area. The landowners reported having seen plenty of butterflies and moths including small heath, meadow brown and painted lady butterflies, and silver y moths and said that the whole area is buzzing with bees, crickets and other insects.
The grass and wildflowers here were getting very long, and whilst that is good ephemeral habitat between the saplings, they will actually be competing with the tree for the nutrients in the soil. The mulch mats fend off the grass and other plants directly around the sapling, and keep in the moisture in the soil too, greatly increasing the tree’s survival chances during the hot, dry summers we seem to be getting more and more frequently.
To help this woodland succeed, we were fortunate enough to have ten volunteers from Google on a corporate team building day who travelled by train on a rather warm day to help our team put the biodegradable mulch mats around the saplings. They had planted some of the trees last year and were keen to see their progress.
The landowner strimmed around each sapling beforehand to make things easier, and the volunteers were enthusiastic to help us protect existing trees. We had planned for two groups but unfortunately the other group had to cancel at the last moment, so the Google volunteers had a harder day than expected. They did their best, even staying beyond their finish time to get the job done!
Our contact at Google sent us an email once they had recovered. “The feedback from our end was really positive. It was (despite the heat) a pleasant day out and really satisfying to peer down the top of a tree guard and see a little tenacious bit of baby tree carrying on. The farmers were great as well, very welcoming and they brought us out some cold drinks and homemade loaf in the afternoon which was very kind of them and much appreciated.”
In October 2022 we visited Upp Hall Farm and planted 600 trees. These were cell-grown trees as we needed to get the season off to an early start. We chose to randomly plant the trees in a rough ratio of 85:15, trees to shrubs respectively. This will mean that as they grow, each tree will have plenty of room to stretch their branches as wide as they care to. We left some open clearings and ensured we did not encroach on the public footpath which crosses the site.
We were lucky to get the use of some transportation for moving trees which saves us so much time, and we had great autumn weather for the planting days. All trees were supported with stakes and guards, and the planting was carried out over two days with the help of our volunteers, including a corporate group from Google.
Help us create and maintain new woodlands, hedgerows and wildflower meadows! We need volunteers to sow seeds, plant saplings, clear invasive plant species and pick up litter. No qualifications necessary; jobs for all ages and abilities. Come and turn climate anxiety into climate action!
With government funding for reforestation and rewilding tenuous, we increasingly rely on our amazing community to keep us growing regardless of political shifts. Help Protect Earth continue to restore ecosystems and improve biodiversity across the country.
Help us put down roots! Your donations to our Land Fund let us seize the moment when the perfect piece of land comes up for sale. Every penny helps us secure community woodlands, healthier ecosystems, and a greener future for generations to come.