Congratulations to English Woodlands Forestry for the Best of the Best Silviculture award.

Congratulations to English Woodlands Forestry Limited for the award of the Royal Forestry Aware for the Best of the Best Silviculture award at Shere Manor Estate.

The 300 ha of Hurt Wood on the Shere Manor Estate near Peaslake was once single aged maturing Scot’s Pine across an area of heathland.

An annual programme of thinning, felling and regeneration began in 2007. It was this programme which was the focus for the award. There has been a move towards continuous cover forestry and the introduction of Douglas fir. This supplements Scot’s pine and increases diversity in the face of climate change.

Powell Forestry has worked closely with the Foresters at EWFL thinning the mature pine crops in a sensitive manner to produce the regeneration criteria they were looking for.  We followed the harvesting with a programme of mulching and brush cutting to control invasive Rhododendron, gaultheria and bracken.