Owen Cooney’s Diary 2021/22

I have just completed 2 hectares of agroforestry at Virginia.  A very time consuming project, as I had to deal with hare damage to Red Oak and Sycamore plants.  I managed to contain them by spraying Graziers, an organic compound which gives a weekly cover.  This gave me time to install tree shelters (shown below) which were slow in arriving due to the current travel restrictions.  

I planted at 500 trees per hectare, to obtain this stocking rate, I used the following spacing:

8 metre rows; with

3 metre spacing along rows 

Stakes were driven in by using the tractor loader’s bucket which was full of clay.

According to ground conditions, species were planted as follows:

Cherry

Italian Alder

Red Oak

Sycamore

A plot of Walnut was also planted at 2 metre spacing in a block, replacing frost damage Sitka that was hit last May.

 

This ground is in its third year and was sprayed with glyphosate during the winter.