Bosavern Tree Group
The Bosavern Tree Group is a volunteer-led tree care group who meet weekly most weeks of the year on Sundays 2-4pm at the Farm. They have planted thousands of trees in recent years and are doing a fantastic job of keeping them weed-free until they are old enough and tall enough to take care of themselves. No experience is necessary, the activities are repetitive, but it isn’t hard and there are jobs suitable for all ages. Tools and gloves are provided. Giving time to nature by gently helping trees is a fun way of contributing to our personal wellbeing as well as caring for our environment.
Some weeks there is a small group of volunteers, other weeks its just one of the reliable volunteer leaders Terry (DBS checked and safeguarding trained). New volunteers would be extremely welcome.
Are you looking for a way to benefit the planet in a welcoming local group? Do you have an hour or two to help us plant and care for our tree saplings?
For more information and to join the Bosavern Tree Group on whatsapp for weekly updates, please email Terry at tezsut@hotmail.com and complete our volunteering registration form here.
The group have been caring for the thousands of trees planted in our community woodland a few years ago and recently planted a number of shelter-belts around our allotments, standing stone field and camping fields using a mixture of native trees and species designed to withstand future changes in climate.
From time to time we are able to secure grant funding to host youth groups to gain experience of tree planting here e.g. Branching Out recently funded visits from St. Just Primary, Cape Cornwall School, Scouts and Home Ed groups. The tree group are now running a pilot project to collect seed and propagate new saplings in a Tree Nursery in our community polytunnel.
The group welcomes new members. They meet throughout the Autumn, Winter and Spring months to undertake tree-planting, tree-mulching, clearing of tree-guards and other tree-care activities across our farm.
The trees in this shelterbelt were funded by Branching Out with support from Penwith Landscape Partnership for us to supervise youth groups planting the trees. Our weekly Sunday tree care group led by Terry, have been mulching to help keep weeds at bay and to help lock moisture in the ground. This line of trees will help to create shelter for people, crops, hens and wildlife as well as improving soil quality and mitigating against climate change and flooding.
To ensure a good success rate for our newly planted saplings, we check all our saplings and their tree guards each year, clearing weeds and adding mulch.
Biodiversity Context
https://lagas.co.uk/ This very groovy mapping website shows Cornwall’s existing habitats, to aid people in their efforts to improve connectivity between habitats by joining up habitats and adding nature corridors. At Bosavern we note that we are close to the woodland habitat of Cot Valley to the South, the SSSI open moorland habitat to the East, the scrub habitat of Carn Bosavern to the North of our farm and we also have the potential to open up public access to our habitats with improved nature trail signage. There are several local footpaths connecting with or farm too, these routes can been viewed on the Cornwall Council maps here: Cornwall Council Interactive Map
A Government report on biodiversity by Sir. John Lawton in 2010 highlighted the importance of nature recovery calling for efforts to be ‘bigger, better and more joined-up’ https://www.gov.uk/government/news/making-space-for-nature-a-review-of-englands-wildlife-sites-published-today
This was further set into legislation in The Environment Act 2021 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/world-leading-environment-act-becomes-law with a commitment to a Nature Recovery Network by 2042
Scything is an excellent way to clear brambles, bracken and other encroaching vegetation from around young trees. We have held scything workshops here at Bosavern in the past. To learn more about the benefits of scything, listen to our podcast episode with professional scyther and workshop leader Tom Waters.
Penwith Tree Planters 2020-2022
The Penwith Tree Planters sprouted up as an informal collective of individuals during lockdown, planting and caring for thousands of trees right across Penwith, Bosavern being just one of their many sites. After lockdown, as the number of volunteers dwindled, the remaining people focussed their efforts to provide the after-care needed in the Bosavern community woodland (which had been established with help from Nancealverne school a few years prior). Spotting the vast potential to add many more trees to form shelterbelts around this community-owned farm, the group became more and more rooted at Bosavern and this gradually led to a name change ‘The Bosavern Tree Group’.
The excellent track record of the early ‘Penwith Tree Planters’ phase is captured and celebrated in photographs here.
Tree Supplies
Our main supplier of fruit trees are the Kehelland Trust near Camborne. For tree whips and other tree supplies we use The Grower in North Cornwall.
We have experimented with cardboard tree guards (no good!) and so currently we use and re-use plastic guards. Each guard is needed for around 3-5 years, checked and cleaned yearly. When the saplings no longer need them, we remove the guards, clean and re-use them. As discussed by Forest for Cornwall in Episode 6 of our Twist and Sprout Podcast, we are hoping that in due course there will be collection sites in Cornwall to recycle end of life ‘Tubiflex’ tree guards.
As well as buying in trees from elsewhere in Cornwall, we are also collecting seeds, berries and nuts locally and within the farm itself to germinate and grow more in our small tree nursery to ensure we make the most of the local seed stock with in-built qualities best suited to the local conditions.
Natural Regeneration
In addition we allow natural regeneration to occur within designated zones of scrub by allowing wider hedge margins at the Southern edge of our land (where the farm adjoins the Cot Valley treeline) and in the areas adjacent to our community woodland.
We plant our trees quite close together knowing that some species will out-compete others naturally. We check, weed and mulch them annually if if a tree has failed it will be replaced. Elsewhere in Cornwall, in more urban areas, particularly areas with very poor soil conditions, some people are preparing the soil with mycorrhizal techniques and planting very large numbers of trees tightly packed in small areas as referenced in Episode 6 of our Twist and Sprout Podcast where Ecologist Nick Taylor and Forest for Cornwall Programme Manager Annie Surless discuss the ‘Miyawaki’ approach to soil prep. Read more about this technique on the Tree Council website here: https://treecouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/SOF-TOW_Miyawaki-Method-Handbook-KCC-Aug-23.pdf
Other Bosavern Partners and Funders:
Private donations
Our volunteer group continues to achieve a lot of our own propagation, planting and tree care without any funding, but grants and donations are always welcomed to help cover things like insurance, repairs, gloves, tools, volunteer refreshments and training.