If you have strolled down the Parkwood path recently you may have noticed the Landscape and Grounds Team (L&G) busy in the woods.

In winter there are number of habitat management jobs the L&G team undertake to support wildlife on campus; increase the biodiversity of plant life in our woodlands; and keep the campus looking great.

During each winter season, the team carry out coppicing on the Canterbury campus as part of our woodland management plan.

The practice of coppicing can be dated back to the Stone Age and is the traditional woodland management technique of repeatedly felling trees at the base and allowing them to regrow. On campus we usually wait around 15 years for a tree to regrow before we fell it again.

We work on defined areas within our woodlands, coppicing one section each winter, then moving onto the next section a year later. This means we end up with a very diverse range of ages in our trees across our three areas of woodland – Parkwood, Brotherhood wood and Bluebell wood. This winter we are coppicing in a section of Parkwood.

Coppicing was traditionally done in order to provide a sustainable supply of timber, however this is not why we coppice at Kent. Our primary goal for coppicing is to improve the health of our trees and create additional benefits for other wildlife. Coppicing is a human intervention that somewhat simulates the act of retrenching (when trees naturally drop their branches to extend their life) which helps our trees live longer within our woodlands.

By removing sections of canopy we are also increasing the amount of light that can reach the woodland floor. This allows other species of vegetation that are dormant in the soil seed bank the chance to grow and increase the diversity of that area. This increase in vegetation increases the amount of habitat and forage opportunities for insects, birds and mammals.

When we coppice, we do not clear fell the sections, instead we ensure that very mature trees are left in place, species such as oak and ash are left, and we leave a proportion of ivy, holly and bramble to ensure there is cover and forage for other species. We also leave any newly emerging vegetation and any deadwood we find which is useful for insects.

Whilst coppicing we also take the opportunity to remove any invasive vegetation from the area and collect any litter we uncover.

This year the L&G team are also creating some dead hedges around the site. A dead hedge is a barrier made from woody cuttings, that is woven between vertical stakes. They are utilising some of the coppiced material for this.

Dead hedges are great habitat features support foraging, nesting and providing small mammals and birds somewhere to hide from predators. They are also a useful alternative to traditional fencing.

Dead hedging.

For more information on what is happening for wildlife on campus please visit our website. You can also follow along with the Landscape and Grounds Team’s work on their Instagram.