Many thanks to DAN
Throughout my 10 years of tree planting; one tree has always proved difficult to find in any great numbers. This being the Alder. I always found some, but seldom enough for all the boggy sites I have to plant up here. From years 1 - 9 I always had to ration the Alders.
Towards the end of tree planting season for year 9, I suffered the misfortune of having no transport for about a month.
I tried to do the best I could for tree planting, under the circumstances and had to take a smaller, more subtle amount on the bus.
It was on one such journey, that I met a bloke on the bus, who asked me about my bag of trees, so I told him all about my activities. He then asked me if I wanted any Alders, without me even mentioning about them. He said he knew of a valley, where thousands had seeded onto low lying swamps around the less grazed edge of the moors, towards Tavistock.
I felt sure, at this point, that they surely must be suckers from those awfully invasive North American Alders and tried not to get my hopes up too much. I arranged to meet up with him a few weeks later, so he could show me where they were.
To my amazement, when I went there; they were all English Alders, seeded on the moors in thick clumps all up one of the valleys, coming out from Tavistock. Easily enough to thin out extensively, without affecting the natural regeneration of native forest in that valley.
I only ever saw Dan a few times after that. I never told him the sheer quantity of Alders I got from that site or how much of an impact his discovery made to the cause.
So you you ever find this blog Dan. Thank you very much indeed. You're a Star!
Top picture, behind the willow are some of Dan's actual Alders. Dartmoor Prison in the background. The lower picture is and example of what they will look like after about 4 years of growth.
