CONIFER PLANTING

Ian
I have an acre of land that I would like to plant up with trees. Should I plant conifers like the forestry commission do for a bit of shelter? Thanks L E by e-mail

Reply
You could just plant the area with conifers but it wouldn’t do much to help the ecology of the area. The forestry commission are coming under a bit of criticism at the moment because of the lack of diversity of trees being planted in Ireland. One claim is that the use of incorrect trees in the countryside makes the forestry commission one of the silent polluters of waterways and land. The trees planted in dense swards across the landscape are said to be acidifying waterways, killing soil and stunting biodiversity. Forestry has increased over the last few decades and this should be a good thing. Unfortunately it has not been a return to oak and deciduous forests. Most planting is Sitka spruce or pine. These are ideal for Christmas trees or for making cheap furniture as they grow quickly and get a faster financial return for the investor. The Environmental Protection Agency claim that Coillte use fertilisers that can leech through the ground, which pollutes rivers and damages the soil. The North Western Fisheries Board were very concerned about the pollution of its waterways. So much so that they wrote to the Forestry Commission to complain about their use of sprays when planting the trees. A study carried out found that there could have been no other source of contamination in the recorded areas. Even without spraying the decomposing conifers cause acidification of the ground. Another study in 2003 by Professor Ted Farrel of UCD, found that tree harvesting of conifers released huge amounts of phosphates that pollute groundwater. The densely planted trees also kill off plants and therefore the wildlife suffers. At present there are 334,432 hectares of conifers here in Ireland compared to just 17,235 hectares of Irish broadleaf trees. So to answer your question, by all means plant a few conifers for evergreen shelter, but mix them into a varied planting scheme of broad leaved trees to create a varied microclimate for a diverse range of flora and fauna. You never know the Forestry Commission might realise that this is the way to go for a long-term investment of our countryside.

Environmental.