Around 10% of Garrowby Estate is woodland. To keep our 1,340 acres of woodland healthy, we thin plantations regularly and control populations of deer and squirrels which can severely damage the trees. The majority of our hardwood timber is sold as seasoned firewood, with the best quality ash, sycamore, beech and oak being used to make furniture. Most softwood timber from coniferous woodlands goes into biomass energy production.

Tree species

The types of trees we plant depend on the location, soil type and purpose. Oak suits the heavy clay soils on the Vale of York. Beech and sycamore thrive on the thin chalky soils along the Wold escarpment.

Chalara, or Ash Dieback, is a fungal disease which infects ash trees. Unfortunately it has spread throughout Yorkshire and the UK. This is why no ash trees have been planted on Garrowby Estate for several years and a felling programme is underway. These felled trees are then used as firewood.

Skilled experts

The Forestry Department is based at Garrowby Sawyard. A team of four manages approximately 1,680 acres of woodland across the Garrowby, Haywold, Heslington, and South Yorkshire estates. Tasks include:

• Annual maintenance
• Thinning
• Fencing
• Felling
• Planting – in some years more than 10,000 trees are planted

Local contractors help with specific tasks, such as tree surgery. Thanks to the assistance of a Countryside Productivity Scheme grant, the Estate has purchased a high output firewood processing machine. This allowed us to scale up production and gives our foresters more time for woodland management.

Collaborative planning

Our five year thinning schedules are agreed with the Forestry Commission. We have also implemented a long term management plan, approved by the Forestry Commission, which outlines forestry operations for the next ten years. Woodland also forms a vital component in the continuing success of the Garrowby Shoot. Our Forestry and Game Departments are therefore in regular communication, planning the timing and extent of planting, thinning and felling for areas that impact the Shoot.