THE Woodland Trust, the UK's leading woodland conservation charity, is predicting an awe-inspiring burst of colour from wild flowers at a wood in Cheshire.
The Trust says it could offer people who like photographing nature an excellent opportunity to take outstanding images within the next few weeks.
Wheeldon Copse in Maidens Cross, Alvanley, has been a trial site for a ploughing technique which will result in improved diversity and attractiveness of woodland ground cover.
A 7.2-hectare block of land, Wheeldon Copse was bought in 2003 with the help of the Mersey Forest and a legacy. The land lies adjacent to Alvanley Cliff, a large ancient wood in private ownership.
The Trust has planted 6,000 trees and created open glades to buffer and protect the remaining area of ancient wood.
At Wheeldon Copse the Trust has worked with local schools and volunteers who have scattered seed, planted trees and collected information about the rich array of insect and bird life found there. The work of the volunteers has contributed to making the copse a rich haven for wildlife.
Simon Magean, of the Woodland Trust, said: 'Many woodland creation projects are species-poor and are planted on land that has been actively farmed and fertilised for generations. Chemicals are used to prevent new trees from being swamped by weeds and new trees are often planted in rows to make the weeding easier.
'The soil inversion technique will allow us to vary the spacing between trees as we won't have to weed around the young trees and introduce wild flowers at an early stage. This will result in a much more natural feel to the woodland as it develops.'
The Woodland Trust was approached by environmental charity Landlife1 to trial the soil inversion technique as part of the DEFRA2-funded project Break New Ground. It is an approach that has been informed by many years of practical research by Landlife.
