The Role of Native Trees in a Farm Landscape

Why Native Trees Earn Their Keep

On a Peak District holding, trees are rarely a luxury. A well-sited line of hawthorn takes the sting out of a west wind, a hazel copse supplies stakes and pea sticks every few winters, and a handful of alders along a wet flush will hold a bank together that would otherwise slump into the brook each February. Native species carry a further advantage: they have grown up here. They are adapted to our soils, our altitude, the late frosts that sit in the valley bottoms, and the damp-and-windy combination that defines the Dark Peak. They also feed the insects that feed the birds, the bats and the chicks scratching about in the hen run.

There is a practical edge to this too. Once established, native trees ask very little of you. They do not need mollycoddling, they do not need spraying, and most of them will outlive the fences you put around them.

Read the Ground Before You Order a Single Whip

It is tempting to reach for a catalogue in January and plant whatever looks handsome. Better to spend an afternoon walking the field first, ideally in wet weather when you can see where water actually goes.

• Soil and geology. Gritstone ground is acid and often thin; limestone is alkaline and free-draining. Look at what already grows: bilberry, heather and tormentil point to acid; cowslip, wild garlic and dog's mercury suggest limestone.
• Altitude and exposure. Above about 350 metres you are into upland conditions where rowan, downy birch and willow do better than oak. Frost pockets in valley bottoms will nip off tender growth, so plant later-flushing species there.
• Drainage. Alder, goat willow and grey willow will thrive in the boggy corner that drowns everything else.
• Grazing pressure. Rabbits, deer, sheep and cattle all have opinions. Be honest about how much protection you can maintain.
• Existing features. Mature hedgerows, veteran trees and old walls often show you where a shelter line or a wildlife corridor wants to be.

Species That Suit Peak District Ground

Think in terms of jobs rather than ornament. A mix is more resilient than a monoculture and gives you a spread of flowering times, berry crops and timber.

• Hawthorn and blackthorn for hedging and impenetrable stock-proof boundaries.
• Hazel for coppice, stakes, hurdles and nuts; cut on a seven to ten year rotation.
• Rowan and downy birch for high, exposed and acid ground.
• Sessile oak and wych elm for longer-term standards where soil allows.
• Alder for wet ground and stream banks; it fixes nitrogen and stabilises banks.
• Holly for evergreen shelter and winter cover that stock tend to leave alone.
• Crab apple, bird cherry and wild cherry for blossom, fruit and birds.
• Field maple and dog rose on limestone ground for hedgerow diversity.

Where ash is already present, plant around it rather than relying on it. Ash dieback means many of our hedgerow ashes will decline, and a diverse mix is the cheapest insurance you can buy.

Shelter, Shade and Layout

Work with the prevailing wind, which in most of the Peak comes from the south-west. A permeable shelterbelt of two or three rows will slow wind and filter it, whereas a solid block simply deflects it over the top and drops it back down with a thump. Use a dense outer row of hawthorn or blackthorn, a middle of hazel or field maple, and a taller inner row of oak, birch or rowan if you have the space.

For livestock, the aim is shade in summer and shelter in winter. A line of trees along a paddock's western edge will do both, and it makes lambing time noticeably less grim. Plant a metre or two back from fence lines so branches do not push the wire out, and leave gaps for machinery and for stock to move through.

Water, Soil and the Slow Gains

Riparian planting is some of the best value work on a smallholding. Alder and willow roots bind banks, reduce erosion and cast dappled shade that keeps water temperatures steadier. Leaf litter feeds the whole chain of invertebrates that fish and dippers depend on.

Across the farm, trees improve soil structure in ways that are easy to overlook. Roots and their fungal partners open up compaction, leaf fall adds organic matter, and the drip line of a mature tree is often the darkest, crumbliest soil on the place. You will see it first in the grass, then in how well the ground takes heavy rain.

Keeping the Planting Going

Plant bare-root whips between November and March, when the ground is workable and the trees are dormant. Spiral guards against rabbits, a mulch mat to suppress grass, and a good firm heel around the roots will get you past the first two summers. Hedge mixes go in at roughly five or six plants per metre in a double staggered row.

Aftercare is what separates a planting scheme from a row of dead sticks. Check guards after gales, keep competing grass and nettles down for the first three seasons, and be prepared to beat up any losses the following winter. Lay hedges on a fifteen to twenty-five year cycle, coppice your hazel and willow on rotation, and enjoy the fact that a smallholding with trees on it is always a little more sheltered, a little more productive and a great deal more alive than one without.