Why Are Trees Planted in Lines?

Many new woodlands are being planted in The National Forest. Each year, roughly 550,000 trees are planted through the National Forest Tender Scheme, which through the 10 Rounds to date has seen the creation of 162 successful schemes. Many, but not all of the trees are planted in lines, with the trees being set at 2.1m apart. Some woodlands are planted with a mix of species planted at random spacing - some close together and some far apart. This gives a natural appearance to a woodland but is also the most difficult to manage.

Creating woodland by planting trees in lines is frequently used as it is the quickest and easiest to manage. Bearing in mind the average sized Tender Scheme contains about 32,000 trees, this method is ideal for mechanical planting (increasingly woodlands are planted by special tree planting machines) and for the subsequent management of the site.

The trees are planted at regular spacing as it is easier to find and manage the young trees. Mowing and suppressing grasses and other weeds helps the trees to become established. Planting at close spacing (a 2.1m spacing results in 2,250 trees per hectare) means that the trees compete for light and nutrients, offer mutual shade and shelter and grow upright rather than become “bushy”. In time, this means that the quality of the timber will be better.

The effect of lines of trees can look unnatural, but this diminishes over time. To soften this effect, woodland designs often "bend" planting lines, plant a range of species (which grow at different rates so that as the trees grow the woodland develops an uneven, natural appearance), plant colourful shrub species on the woodland edges and remove individual guards when they are no longer required.

The influx of naturally regenerating trees, such as young oaks growing from acorns blown off nearby hedgerow trees, also results in woodlands that soften in appearance as they grow. In the longer time scale, whe the woodlands are 20-25 years old, they will be thinned (with selected trees being removed in order to allow light and space for the more desired trees) which adds to the natural appearance of the woodland.