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.
