At the south eastern edge of the Woodland Education Centre is a larch
tree plantation. The larch trees were all planted in an old marl pit.
Because they were grown as a crop, the trees were planted close together and have
grown tall and straight.
Although larches are conifers, they are deciduous
and loose their needle-like leaves in the autumn. Because the trees are very tall
and the leaf canopy is not very dense, bright sunlight can penetrate to the forest floor
during much of the year allowing many smaller plants and trees to thrive just above ground
level. These include hazel, ferns and grasses.
Larch is the preferred nesting material of the Centre's sparrowhawks. |