Tree planting at Foxbury

We're planting a mixture of oak, sweet chestnut and alder, along with a variety of hedging plants such as thorn, holly, hazel and crab apple. 

These species were chosen as they complement the surrounding native woodland in the area and will ensure that Foxbury has a sustainable future. Income provided by woodland product and log sales will help fund our continuing heathland conservation work.

The 22,000 trees have been planted by the New Forest’s conservation volunteer group, local people, community groups and schools. We are so pleased to see so many trees planted and growing strong. These trees will now be maintained by our fantastic volunteer team who will change tree guards, re-stake, clear weeds and mulch at regular intervals throughout the year.

English oak is probably the most beneficial tree to native wildlife we have, supporting thousands of species, including insects, birds and mammals.

Alder has been planted in the wetter areas, an environment it prefers.

Sweet chestnut, although only “recently native”, provides a useful wood crop and should be more resistant to future climate change and disease than other native species.

Planting has taken place in areas shown to have been ancient woodlands previously. This can be identified by the presence of large numbers of ancient woodland indicator species growing, for example, dog mercury, bluebells and wood avens.

Much of the funding for the trees comes from the Heritage Lottery Fund, as part of the New Forests ‘Our Past, Our Future’ project, led by the New Forest National Park Authority.