Growing trees and planting in the woods.

young codger

I've been growing horse chestnut trees for a few years. There is an abundance of their seed on the street where I live, and surrounding area.

I've always previously  ignored the self-setting Beach & Ash until recently. But this year I started potting them up-especially the Beach due to their abundance.

I did not really want anything competing with or impeding the growth  of the horse chestnuts (my passion) once they are in the woods.

 However, it ocurred to me that having other species around may actually  compliment the growth of the HCs?  I'm just thinking about the benefit from the other species that may attract certain polinating insects to the area that otherwise might not be there? 

I welcome your ideas/thoughts.

josusa47

Do you own the woodland where you plan to plant them?  If not, I doubt it would be legal to plant anything without the landowner's permission.  It may look like "wild" country, but it all belongs to someone.

Loxley

I find the idea of digging up Horse Chestnuts (a non native ornamental tree) and planting them in natural woodlands kind of bothersome. They're just likely to displace more beneficial native species, and as you know from the seedlings popping up on your street, they seed around like mad.

treehugger80

horse chestnuts (a non native) cause too much shade in a British woodland and can actually kill off ground flora like bluebells and wood anemones by the shade or building up too thick a layer of leaf litter (the leaves don't rot as quickly as natives),

please don't plant non-native trees in woodlands!

Mike Allen

No disrespect but.  For those opposers here.  Be honest and own up. Can you readilly identify british trees??????

Most of the trees that now make up the British Countryside and our woodlands.  Have over the centuries been gathered from far and wide and now form the British and Northern European woodlands.  Today we are losing so many trees to viruses, bacterial and fungal diseases.  Even the Horse chestnut is under threat.  With all this sudden, 'Help Save the planet.  Why oh why deter anyone who is attempting to do their bit.

Lyn

I was reading the other day that planting trees is just short term solution, when a tree dies it releases more carbon that it ever attracted.
The way to save the planet is not to use fossil fuels. 
https://medium.com/the-philipendium/trees-and-carbon-dioxide-what-is-the-truth-c7f8c9d12602

Helix

Horse Chestnuts in the UK are best as parkland or estate trees, and to grow to maturity need space.  They are not lowland woodland trees, and don't particularly like being in that environment.    So each one needs a space of about 25metres.   Ground flora is fine - you can find them in hedgerows - but they need air space.  I always think that ground flora helps keep roots cool and shaded as well as providing a source of food as the down.

In their native habitat they grow in woodlands, but more mountainous woodlands that are not as dense as lowland woodlands.   They are now naturalised in the UK.

Find an estate owner who has a driveway that could benefits from a double row of horse chestnuts! 

(and yes I can identify most trees, even when not in leaf)

Fairygirl

I think it would help if the OP would answer @josusa47 's question re ownership, otherwise any debate is pointless. 

If it ain't your land - you cant plant 'em. 

Mike Allen

Excuse me.  OP?

As a Post Script.  I am sure contacting the Woodland Trust would result in a satifactory answer/solution.

Logan4

Lyn said:

I was reading the other day that planting trees is just short term solution, when a tree dies it releases more carbon that it ever attracted.
The way to save the planet is not to use fossil fuels. 
https://medium.com/the-philipendium/trees-and-carbon-dioxide-what-is-the-truth-c7f8c9d12602

We do have to stop using fossil fuels but there's still a lot of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that can't escape that's why we should grow more trees. A tree can live for a long time and when it dies, it releases the carbon dioxide very slowly. They say that it can be done and we've got the room to do it.

We have a small man made wood by us and the council decided to cut some of the trees down because they were coming to the end of their life.   They're going to plant some more but we are going to plant some seedlings ourselves, nobody will know because there's a lot of species there already. I think some of the varieties were brought over by the romans.

There's a few horses chestnuts growing where they've seeded and no one has dug them up, they will grow anywhere. But if you want a big tree it will need space.

If you ask the council they might find you somewhere to plant them. I know if someone wants to grow things the council has a  duty to find somewhere to grow things.

UpNorth

@young codger... i'd say ditch the abundant conkers and go find some acorns, a more challenging seed to appeal to your propagating instinct and a native plant of course.  like your plum seed a cold period and some care to stop them desiccating will be required.   i've never successfully found acorns at the right time, i think they're quite early autumn...one day.  i'm sure you appreciate they're also a very large tree ultimately but you could coax it along for a few years in large pots and then ultimately give it away on 'marketplace' or similar to someone who happens to own a large plot of land.