Upp Hall Farm

Colchester, England

Upps Hall Farm is a gorgeous site found near Coggeshall in Essex. Protect Earth came on board to help the landowners plant 600 trees in two separate areas on the farm. The owners themselves specifically wanted us to create a new, natural feeling woodland, with a nice wide canopy and understory. To this effect, we chose to randomly plant the trees in a rough ratio of 85:15, trees to shrubs respectively. This will mean that as they grow, each tree will have plenty of room to stretch their branches as wide as they care to.

On our second visit back to the farm we were fortunate enough to have wrangled a small army of volunteers in order to help us pop some mulch mats around the saplings. We do this occasionally because sometimes the grass will have gotten super long and will actually be competing with the tree for the nutrients in the soil. The mulch mats smother the grass and weeds and actually keep in the moisture too, greatly increasing the tree’s survival chances during the hot, dry summers we seem to be getting more and more frequently.

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Site Updates

July 2025

Survival Survey
80% survival rate

Mike visited to conduct a survival survey, and he found an overall 80% survival rate! The whole area was buzzing with bees, butterflies, crickets and other insects.

A local Beaver Scout group visited to forage for sticks & pine cones in a nearby more established woodland, then they made the big ‘bug hotel’ to add to the area.

The team also placed a couple of corrugated metal sheets, which have seen lots of field voles and banded grass snakes using that habitat.

The two areas on site are a bit different - the area planted near the farmyard has a 86% survival rate, and the area further away is about 70%. The failures seem to be scattered throughout the site, so there’s not a particular area or tree type that has done less well. There have also been a few additional trees (field maple) that have self-seeded from the nearby green lane in the lower survival area.

July 2023

Maintenance

To help this woodland succeed, we were fortunate enough to have wrangled a small army of volunteers in order to help us pop some mulch mats around the saplings. The grass and wildflowers here were getting very long, and whilst that is good ephemeral habitat between the saplings, they will actually be competing with the tree for the nutrients in the soil. The mulch mats fend off the grass and other plants directly around the sapling, and keep in the moisture in the soil too, greatly increasing the tree’s survival chances during the hot, dry summers we seem to be getting more and more frequently.

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