Nicholsons walking on water (almost...)

The Nicholsons forestry team are currently planting specimen trees around a new lake for one of our clients. Included in the contract was the planting of some very large Scots pines on an island in the lake and this required a mini-digger to operate on the island. The civil engineering contractor who has also been working on the site had told us that they would build a temporary bridge to the island to allow us access, but we'd rather been expecting something a little more substantial than this. What's more, the bridge had been set up to take a digger that was somewhat larger than ours.
However, in the usual Nicholsons' way we used brains and quite a bit of brute force to realign the steel joists, got the digger onto the island, planted the trees, and got off the island again without anyone (or anything) getting wet! We're still on site planting more trees around the lake and in an avenue, and the client is very pleased with the end results.

Managing woodland in a galaxy far, far away....

Whippendell Wood isn't actually far, far away at all - its just down the A41 - but its not everyday you get to manage trees on the so-called planet of Naboo - and its certainly a wood worthwhile mentioning. Used as a location in The Phantom Menace, Whippendell is a terrific ancient woodland, owned by Watford Borough Council, and used very well by the local residents. The woodland is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest for the semi-natural vegetation found on the site, and the increasing amounts of deadwood - a habitat we need to see more of in our woods.

We've now come to the end of our first stage of work, concentrating on thinning out the non-native conifers and Sweet Chestnut plantations. We've also constructed a useful turning area for timber wagons - in a safe location away from the main car parking area. We'll be back next year to increase the size of some of the glades, and start to thin out more of the broadleaved areas.