Types of Woodland

Typically the woodland is either mixed deciduous (containing a variety of trees such as oak, ash, beech and silver birch) or conifer (consisting of either one or a few types of conifer trees that have been planted in a more regulated format).

Mixed Deciduous

This is a more ‘traditional’ type of woodland, consisting of a mixed variety of trees, including oak, ash, beech, chestnut, silver birch, willow and sycamore. This type of woodland is often quite mature and gives you tree high crowns, providing shade and clear ground underneath. In this woodland, you can usually walk around freely and enjoy the clear views.

If the woodland is less mature - perhaps recently felled and replanted - it will require more attention and time. This can be very satisfying.

Mature timber, carefully marketed, can command a good price and there are now companies around who can help you sell your trees.

Conifers

These are usually ‘plantations’ and may contain a single type of tree, or two or three at the most. If the woodland is well managed and thinned, the ground around the trees will be clear and good for walking. Conifer woods smell beautifully and need to be thinned every few years as they grow very quickly. This enables a crop of trees to be sold every few years.

Forestry

Size distinguishes woodland from forestry. Woodland can be smaller wooded areas of only a few acres. Forestry or forests usually run over several hundred or thousand acres. Take, for example, Epsom Forest, it still covers a wide area of Essex or possibly the most famous Forest in the UK, Nottingham Forest, which sadly is now very depleted and no longer has its former glory in terms of size or density.

These are ‘public’ forests. The majority of this forestry land is publicly owned and run, either by the Forestry Commission or the Local Authority and because of this, these forests are usually accessible to the general public. The New Forest is another example, but there are parts which are privately owned.

Types of Forest

There are two basic types of forestry – mixed deciduous and conifer. Mixed deciduous woodland contains a wide variety of trees, including oak, beech and ash. Epsom forest would be a good example. The more mature deciduous trees provide a green, high canopy that creates shade and open areas at ground level.

Conifer forestry is ‘man-made’ in the UK and therefore, is normally farmed for its timber. Conifer forests consists of one or two types of conifer trees, which have been precisely planted in rows and blocks. The trees are more densely planted and so underneath them, there is little plant coverage at ground level.