Normandy, France, october 2020
It took Mr Jeannin three years to transform his 25-hectare apple orchard into a forest for the future. The initial planting phase in March 2018 was followed by two others in March 2019 and March 2020. More than 35,000 seedlings were planted, creating different plots of oak, chestnut, robinia and Douglas fir. Sycamore maple and flat maple, as well as hornbeam, torminal birch, wild cherry, mountain ash or wild pear, have been introduced along the borders.
This year, 6,340 chestnut, douglas, black locust, oak and forest fruit tree seedlings were planted to replace those that had died i.e. just under 20% of those initially introduced. All the deciduous trees, except black locust, are protected from roe deer by 1.20-metre-high netting. This spring 2020, maintenance work on the vegetation was carried out, using either a rotary cutter or disc plow. To complete this operation, herbaceous vegetation surrounding the seedlings was cleared away.
A new forest is emerging in this little corner of Normandy. Yves Jeannin’s past experience as an arborist is a guarantee this special forest environment will receive plenty of attention and prove a lasting success. Not only will it become a real island of biodiversity, but also a source of timber for future generations.
A big thank you to the A Tree For You community for supporting this project. Your donations have enabled the planting of 2,120 lasting trees.
Next stages of the project: maintenances are planned during the first five years. They include weeding under the trees, some replanting and, if necessary, tree formation pruning. Some tree thinning will be carried out at 15 years for Douglas and 25 years for oak and chestnut. Thinning allows the tree to increase its individual volume, to ensure better stability against climate accidents, to improve Mr Jeannin’s forest stand and to earn a small intermediate income.
