Felix Dennis of Dennis Publishing Ltd began planting trees in the late 1990s, and has since cemented his passion for British forestry by setting up the Forest of Dennis charity, dedicated to planting a substantial native broadleaf forest in the Heart of England. Between his personal country estate and the Forest of Dennis, over 1,300 acres of woodland have now been planted. Planting proceeds at the rate of approximately 300 acres per year. Felix often makes a personal donation to the charity equivalent to the tour proceeds.
Planting
Each year we plant in the region of 100 hectares of new woodland comprised of native broadleaved trees. We structure the species mix to mimic the local dominant woodland type as set out by the National Vegetation Communities (NVC) woodland classifications, which are W8 or W10 for our area. Both are lowland broadleaved woodlands with ash or oak the dominant species respectively. These woodland types refer to mature woodland and include ground flora as part of the classification description. We cannot, of course, create all aspects of a mature woodland but aim to plant the major and minor tree species in suitable proportions to kick start the process and allow the woodlands to develop naturally and take on a character of their own.
Major tree species for our area are; English oak and ash.
Minor tree species include; sessile oak, birch, small leaved lime, field maple, cherry, hornbeam, aspen, sweet chestnut, rowan, whitebeam and willows.
