Bonham Farm - Woodland Creation Project

Overview

Overall Plan

In the winter of 2023/2024 we planted 190,000 trees to create an 80 hectare (200 acre) extension to the Stourhead woodlands. The objectives are:

• Sustainable timber production.
• Carbon sequestration.
• Water quality.
• Increased biodiversity.
• Enhanced public access.

Where the ground is not too stony we planted using the planting machine seen above. We got the machine and the process fine-tuned and could plant 5000 trees a day. If anyone has a tree planting project, the machine is looking for a new job!

The wet weather this spring and summer has been perfect for young trees, so the failure rate is very low. We will be "beating up" (replacing dead trees) this winter. I have not done a full assessment yet, but it looks like about 10% have died: a mere 20,000 trees!