CROW (Conserve Reading on Wednesdays)
Wednesday, 22nd May 2013
Paices Wood Country Park, Aldermaston ~ Coppice management and protection (with bonfire)

Over the winter of 2012/2013 we had been creating a new coppice plot. Despite our attempts to protect the stools with brash, the adjacent plot which we had cut the previous winter had still suffered considerable deer damage. It was therefore decided that the new plot should be 'ring fenced'.

A dead hedge was built surrounding most of the plot. Any stools outside the hedge including those cut the previous winter were again individually protected. Without protection the deer would continually eat any new growth and there is a high risk that the stools would eventually die.