Phil Holt & Son manage our woodland with traditional respect for the natural habitat from which our firewood logs are sourced.

Preserving the natural habitat

Once trees are cut and felled, we strip away what we don't need for log production. So what happens to the parts of the tree that we strip? Whatever's left after we've stripped the tree gets returned to the natural woodland habitat. The trees we strip are redistributed over the woodland floor. Moisture and climate are so vital for the woodland ecology.

Woodland ecology & lifecycle

Tree removal and woodland clearing is an essential component of responsible woodland management. Once we've taken a tree, the light floods back into the woods. The light is able to do this on its own accord as the tree canopy has been disturbed. One thing we don't want is baked ground as no regeneration will take place in a hard forest floor, all the branches are distributed where the tree fell and this generates vital moisture in the ground thanks to the blanket of bush we've covered over it.

When an acorn falls from the tree, it falls into the moist atmosphere we have created with tree debris and leaf mould. The light the acorn needs is just above it; all the acorn has to do is grow. We provide the right conditions for saplings to grow. The tree debris contributes to the forest ecology because the branches and foliage help to keep wildlife at bay so as not to damage the young saplings.

Woodland management

So it's not a case of shredding trees and turning the timber into mulch, as we remove trees we are managing our valuable woodland by recreating the perfect atmosphere for young trees to grow.