Therfield Heath Conservation -Tree maintenance on the Heath
We have a wide variety of trees on the heath, being of chalk soil we mostly think of the Beech trees which seem to dominant the tree line towards the south in the woodland but there are more species to be found. Having seen the devastation seen on the heath and surrounding areas during the high winds we are going to have to move our tree maintenance up another level, this will ensure we are keeping the site as safe as possible for the public using the site.
Unfortunately, we have a number of Ash trees within our care all of which are very susceptible to the terrible disease of Ash dieback which is wreaking havoc across the UK. Ash dieback is caused by a fungus which originated in Asia and will affect 80% of trees across the UK. So you will see trees which look relatively healthy to the untrained eye coming down due to this disease. We will be log piling as much as possible to help benefit the habitat and wildlife as much as possible.
We also have some other trees which have come to the end of their lives so those will be felled, and log piled. Any trees which can be left as wildlife poles will be left standing as long as it is safe to do so. We realise that seeing trees taken down is a very sad sight to see and if we didn’t have to, we wouldn’t. If you are asked not to come into the areas which the cutting down is taking place, please follow this request as a health and safety measure and we will put an announcement on our social media to inform times and dates when this is going to occur.
We are looking to plant more trees in certain areas on the heath, these will avoid impacting the grassland and adding further trees on the greens we own around the local area, the Friends of The Heath Group in conjunction with the Queen’s Canopy, are leading this project and if you wish to support this project please get in touch with them directly.
The Listing magazine allows us to connect with everyone in the area on a monthly basis. We encourage those readers to also use our website and Facebook as a great way to access instant messages. Please search “Therfield Heath & Greens” and this will take you to our website and also our Facebook page.
Please join us and keep up to date on what is happening and help us celebrate this unique site which is still free to access all year round.
