Chris D'Agorne

Anne Miller wrote:What about having a load of wood chips brought in.

It seem like over time more wood chips could be added until the track is completed.

Here in the US, the pioneers made roads out of logs.

I did not know these roads had a name until someone posted about them to the forum.

Corduroy roads, I couldn't thread though I know there is one.

I have the same issue as the OP, also in the UK. I considered woodchip, but my concern is that when it breaks down, it leaves bare earth, which has even less structural strength than the turf which is currently there. At the moment I just don’t use the track in winter and walk in, instead, which is a massive pain when carrying heavy loads.

Is there anyone who has tried woodchip on e.g. sloppy clay soils like this and can report back on what happens when all the chips have rotted down? I can get them free from local landscapers, and would rather do this than use plastic reinforcement mats.

I’ve heard that livestock can eat the edges of the mat once it starts to break down, which is obviously not great for their gut. And once it’s on the land, it’s very difficult, if not impossible to remove after a few years, so you’re effectively writing off any grazing. I have goats infrequently grazing this area.

I don't know how it would cope with the autumn rains - perhaps fine - but Jojoba grows wild in the California desert in regions with very little rainfall. It is a shrub that is commonly cultivated for the oil produced from the nuts ('goat nuts') which are so similar in substance to our natural skin oils that it's perfect for body lotions and skin treatments. It's also just a rather pretty plant that seems to thrive in very harsh conditions and is a good refuge for wildlife, especially small birds which will then benefit your other plants and trees by cleaning off the insect pests.

The age of the plant is also known to affect its ability to adapt to colder climates. Younger olive trees are more likely to survive being moved to a colder region than older specimens, so you might want to preferentially search out a younger plant. Older trees tend to succumb to frost damage and/or be completely killed by frost whereas younger trees bounce back much quicker.

I've had 100% success with my last few batches of willow cuttings - my process is:

Cut 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness branches into 4-6 inch sections with sharp secateurs. Soak in water for an hour or so. Make a hole in wet soil/compost with a metal bolt. Gently strip the leaves off the cutting then push it into the soil so it's 1/3 underground. Keep the soil damp but not waterlogged in the first growing season. After a few weeks they'll be pretty hardy.

It's also worth considering the width of the roots - they're so narrow that any residual heat the water would be carrying on the way up would likely be lost through the cell walls and out into the soil. There is going to be very little left by the time it reaches ground level.

This, combined with the fact that trees typically reduce transpiration to an absolute minimum in winter due to the slowing of chemical processes and reduction in ambient air temperature and radiation means that, as pointed out above, it's a non-starter unfortunately, but I really like the thought - it's this kind of thing which is definitely worth raising in these forums.

I'm also planning on creating a large pond with Sodium Bentonite as a liner. The area I have in mind is clay soil but the pond will be both above (at max height) and below (at max depth) the water table, so I need something to seal it which won't float up if the ground below before saturated (a problem with using pond liners).

What are the issues with using Sodium Bentonite for planted areas? This is meant to be a wildlife pond and I'd like to know whether anyone has used it in that context - was it successful?