Planting Trees in a Bank.

Dibbing in Little Oaks
This site; the Two Bridges road, Near Princtown is my show-piece Wild Daffodil plantation.
Since the Wild daffs are starting to sprout now; I do not want to disturb them, so I have opted not to use the spade and instead have employed the actions of a little bit of tough willow stick, to use as a Dibber.


This road has a raised granite bank, all along its two mile(ish) length.  On the 5 foot high bank have been planted Hawthorns, but nothing else.
Beech and the loathsome Sycamores have started to make headway, seeding themselves onto and around this bank, sprouting up along whole sections of the wall invasivly, in the absence of all other species of trees.


Today's Mission
Today I simply wish to add Wild local Oak to this bank, so that the canopy will not one day; just be dominated by only a few species of trees.  I have brought along the odd hazel as well and a few dog Rose, but very little else.
Also; Wild Daffs love Oaks and will grow under a mixture of deciduous trees that includes Beech, but they will not grow under just-Beech!

The grass on top of this bank doesn't get very long, so here tiny little pull-up-able twiggy two year old seedlings have been selected.  These then only have a tap root of a few inches long and easily fit into the little holes that I have been dibbing.


I dib the holes as deep and wide enough, then pop in a few little Oaks  in each hole.


Next I grab a hand full of nearby mus or soil and fashion it comfortably, around the tree's bases, both for support and to ensure that the roots are covered with soil.


Since discretion is every thing; I like to disguise newly planted trees.
I do not want people to notice these little babies, until they are growing fast up through the protective Hawthorn hedge, that they are in.  So I grab some leaves and cover the patch of disturbed ground with then an top it off with a bit of grass.


The process of dibbing is illustrated here, in the above captions.
The pictures below demonstrate the follow up procedures, to maximise the survival rate of these delicate little trees:

1) Grab some mud from nearby.

2) Place it around base of baby trees.

3) add a few leaves.

4) Disguise with grass.

Planting Acorns

Some people would dib Acorns and cover them with soil. I wouldn't though.
In the wild; the Acorns fall off in October, closely followed by the leaves, which bury them and through which they grow.  So I choose to do the same.

I only plant them where there is no grass competition.  like here, in this moss.  There also needs to be a near by source of leaf mold, like from the Hawthorn hedge, so the young Oaks will have enough nutrients in the soil to grow.