Plant and direct seed from May- July

Tools AND Tips that can help with planting

Potti putkis (tree planting devices)
Hiko tray - plant deplugger
Buckets for carrying the plants in
Water cart and buckets for watering plants in if no rain is forecast or the ground is dry (very recommended)
A damn fine spread of food prepared for the planting team
plant seedlings as close to when they arrive from the nursery as possible - this can often be a significant determining factor in success

Before planting or sowing day:

ensure your site is ready to plant (ripped, sprayed, biomass reduced and pest grazing animals reduced e.g. rabbits and hares)

determine who will be planting or direct seeding. Will it be contractors, volunteers or your and your family and friends? Book them in and communicate well.
collect all of the helpful tools and equipment and have it ready to go at the site
collect your plants and keep them very well watered
if you are using guards have them ready to go
work out what your planting mix will look like e.g.
- calculate how many trees & shrubs per line you will need and at what spacing (It is important to spread the tree species throughout the site). For a site with 400 plants use a 5 m spacing between plants and aim for 80-70% shrubs and 20-30% trees species. For every tree there will be 32 or 28 shrubs. Often at the time of planting the spacing of 5mts looks huge – it doesn’t take long for the gaps to fill
prepare great food
if you need toilets for volunteers order these in advance as well.
as a guide the average person can plant quite quickly on a well-prepared site (300-400 plants per person per day). Note, guarding trees does take extra time so allow for this. Contractors can plant up to 1000 or more if not guarding.

The day of planting:

water the seedlings before you head out to plant
if plants are in hyco trays loosen the plants from the tray for ease of removing
create collections of plants in the carrying trays that reflect where and what you are planting (based on your above calculations)
boil the kettle and bake the scones (worth it)
fill water carts, prepare hand washing facilities or toilets if available.
it can work best if each person has a specific role eg someone placing out guards or plants, another planting, another watering. Swap around after breaks
• If using tree guards place them and the stakes out ahead of the tree planters
• clearly show what 5 mts looks like and how to measure it
• clearly describe the mix of plants and the aim of the site
• demonstrate how you would like the plants planted – particularly if using the poti puttkis
• water plants in a soon as possible - this is often a good designated job to one person so there is consistency in the amount of water plant receives
• give a guide on when you will be offering food

Direct seeding

Prior to direct seeding the key activity required is to reduce the ground cover or biomass at the ground level and control any grazing pests such as rabbits and hares. The direct seeding contractors can spray the direct seeding lines immediately after sowing and can also add red leg earth mite controls if required.

Trash or biomass can be reduced through either an intensive spell of grazing or slashing. Please note – if your site is of high biodiversity value consider that grazing can have a detrimental affect of the disturbance of the ground leaf litter. Slashing direct seedling lines would be better option.