Irish forestry over the early years

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When Ireland was just an uninhabited island sitting on the periphery of the Atlantic Ocean and broken off from the European continent, it was bristling with forestry due to the northern European forestry belt. There were all sorts of native Irish species including the Mountain Ash, various types of Oak tree, the Scots pine, the Blackthorn, and many other species. Since human habitation began, the forests have gradually been cleared until not much is left of the native forest habitat. Many of these trees, that were once native, have been reintroduced into the land. But the tree which is growing mostly on Irish soil these days is the Sitka Spruce.

I want to take an example of how a commercial plantation of Sitka Spruce starts out these days. First, let me say that the Spruce is a native of North America, from Sitka Island to be precise. But, this tree grows very well on Irish soil because of its diversity. It can contend with high winds and the storms that during the winter months attack the Atlantic seaboard, and the Spruce will grow in almost any type of soil once it is given enough fertilization. So, let's get back to our example site.

Most sites that are earmarked for forestry in Ireland will start out with the top layer of scrub being scraped away from the soil by heavy machinery. Then, the land is divided up into strips of land approximately 12 meters wide which are separated by ditches for drainage. As the ditches are excavated, the material that is removed is placed onto the strips of land at the spacing of approximately 2 meters apart. These mounds of soil will form the basis where the Spruce is going to be planted. This elevated position gives the young plants a chance to grow for the first few years with a head start over any competing vegetation that can interfere with the passage of sunlight through to the tree, or compete at any nutrition. It will also be above of any ground water that may affect the site. The whole site is then surrounded by barbed wire in order to prevent intrusion by stray farm animals and to demarcate the site from surrounding stands of forestry.

As the trees grow in their first few years a small amount of maintenance is always going to be needed. Not that it makes any difference, but say that we have our forestry in Kerry. The team will go out to the site and clear any vegetation that is intruding upon the young tree, maybe spraying around the tree to kill off that competing vegetation. These workers, maybe from the city of Tralee, will also give the tree a shot of fertilizer. This application of fertilizer will depend on the quality of the soil. After these initial couple of essential maintenance years, the trees will be left to fend for themselves until the first thinning stage. It is during this thinning stage that the weaker trees are removed, allowing the fittest to survive.