Our work on the estate at Chartwell

Tree veteranisation

In order to help create a varied habitat suitable to the widest possible assemblage of species, rangers also carry out a technique called ‘veteranisation’ whereby a ring is cut around the bark of a tree in order to allow it to die standing which creates a rich habitat for invertebrates as it decays and dies.

Coppicing 

Coppicing is one of the many ways we look after our woodland here at Chartwell. We use the ancient technique to encourage lost habitats back and help support a wider diversity of nature.  

Chestnut coppicing at Chartwell 

The Chartwell estate has 10 hectares of woodland, 2 hectares of which is sweet chestnut. The long poles cut from the coppiced stools are processed by our Ranger team into fencing stakes, bollards and gate posts which are then used across the wider estate.

Historic uses 

It is likely that this would have originally been planted to provide the house and cottages with a continued source of firewood, charcoal, poles for growing hops and other necessary projects requiring wood, such as for fencing.

Since the demand for wood products declined and the keeping and grazing of animals became more intensive and centralised, these traditional management techniques such as copping have fallen out of use, and our woods have become dense, dark, overgrown places of few species.

Rejuvenating the woods 

The copse at Chartwell is overstood and, before work started to manage the woodland better, it had not been regularly cut for over 30 years.
Having re-surveyed the area, mapped, and divided it into 10 coupes (and area of felled trees) a rotation began. Each year one coupe gets cut on rotation and the ranger team at Chartwell are now well over halfway through the process of thinning out all the sweet chestnuts.

It may look drastic, but coppicing is essential conservation work for some of our best loved woodland wildlife to survive.

Hedge planting 

Since the winter of 2019/20 the ranger team have been working with our tenant farmer at Grange Farm to restore several old field boundaries back to their former glory. They have planted over 1000 different native species to make sure that the hedgerows we build are perfectly suited to their environment, and that they are as beneficial as possible to the surrounding wildlife.

Why are we planting new hedges? 

In the post-war era, a vast number of hedges were removed from farmland due to government-led farming policies at the time. The aim was to create larger fields in which to sow increasing amounts of high-yield crops, which could then be harvested by bigger and better farming machinery.
This unfortunately led to a catastrophic decline in farmland wildlife; a problem which is now being reversed by government-funded hedge re-planting schemes.

Wildlife benefits 

Hedges are a crucial source of protection, shelter, and food for a range of wildlife. Their presence and interconnection across the landscape acts as a sort of wildlife superhighway, allowing for various species to move around freely whilst keeping safe from predators.

The hedges also offer nesting, breeding and foraging habitat. An increase in a range of species of birds, mammals and invertebrates is expected once the hedges are fully established.

A variety of hedge species have been planted to maximise the benefit to wildlife. This will not only guarantee a range of flowering times for pollinating insects, different food sources for birds and mammals, but will offer a visually appealing hedge.

Native species 

When planting hedges, it is important not to plant just for plantings sake. The species selected must be native to the area and able to grow in the specific soil type. As such, they should be found locally and certainly sourced from local suppliers, in order that they are well-accustomed to the local micro-climates. 

It is the norm in native English hedge planting to plant a mix of species, particularly in rural areas to keep the overall hedge stock-proof, to help wildlife flourish, and to be aesthetically pleasing. Most native species used in hedges can also be planted as trees or shrubs in gardens and woodland.

Pond restoration 

The ranger team at Chartwell look after the wider estate and also large amounts of the surrounding West Kent countryside, including nearby Grange Farm. Since winter 2019/20 the team has been bringing three ponds back to life, providing an abundant habitat for wildlife.

What causes ponds to silt up? 

All land undergoes a natural process called succession, through which areas of woodland or vegetation change and develop over time. Generally, succession is beneficial. It’s the same process which allows forest or woodland to naturally regenerate after it has been destroyed.

In the UK, succession means that most lowland habitat will eventually succeed to woodland. This can include bodies of water that, without either natural or artificial intervention or natural flow, can silt up, dry out, and be colonised by trees. As a result, the species that once depended on the water body then die out or find somewhere else to thrive.

The ponds at Grange Farm 

Before this project work by our ranger team, the ponds at Grange Farm had not been properly managed for over a decade.

The number of trees growing in and around the ponds – along with all the associated leaf litter drop during winter – meant the ponds were starting to dry out in summer. Partial drying out is certainly beneficial for some wildlife, but we wanted to retain water all year round in other parts of the ponds.

What did the work entail? 

There are a few key actions that were carried out as part of the process. Around 60% of the trees surrounding the pond were selectively felled and thinned, which allowed the remaining trees to grow larger and healthier. In turn, this created a much better environment for returning wildlife.

‘Windrows’ and habitat piles were created and some manual dredging of the silt layer was carried out. The aim was to create a habitat mosaic of species, age and structure. Local wildlife has certainly taken a liking to the new surroundings. Kingfishers and several species of dragonflies have been spotted making use of the small pond.