A Tall Order

Late summer is an unusual time to be felling trees, but for a few warm sunny days, the familiar winter sound of chainsaws returned to Pullabrook Woods. Small-scale woodland contractor, Martin Underhill and his colleague, Josh were felling a small area of large Douglas fir trees. This is a skilled operation at any time of year, but in the summer, extra care is needed to avoid late nesting birds, which is not usually a problem when the woodland wildlife is subdued in the winter months.

In addition to the timber order, there is also a conservation benefit of opening up a bit of space in the tree canopy. The neighbouring hedge has been identified as a priority area for planting some elm seedlings, and the additional light will give them a good start. Once grown, they will help to link up the clusters of elm around the woods where the rare white-letter hairstreak butterfly relies on them as its main food plant. The Pullabrook Woods timber waiting by the Hooke Park sawmill – experimental architecture. Within days of felling it will be used for the first stage of construction at a new building in a Dorset Wildlife Trust reserveKeep reading this blog over the coming weeks to find out more about the rare white-letter hairstreak and the Architectural Association working with the Woodland Trust and the Common Ground project in Dorset.by Matt Parkins