Winter Hill Road Woods – Maidenhead Boundary Walk

The transition from species-poor plantation towards that of diverse coppice and semi-natural woodland began with the removal of larch from the site. Larch is not a native tree to Britain and as a result, it supports fewer species of British wildlife compared to our native trees. Larch is also a carrier of the fungus Phytophthora ramorum also known as sudden oak death. Aside from the removal of larch from the site the National Trust has also been freeing the larger, open-grown oaks from competition via a process called ‘halo releasing’ whilst also undergoing a program of ‘veteranisation’ on many of the younger plantation oak trees in an effort to create a more varied and diverse woodland. Aside from management of canopy trees efforts have been taken to revert much of the understorey of Winter Hill Road Woods back to Hazel coppice. Coppicing mimics the natural processes that occur after a large mature tree falls, allowing light to reach the woodland floor and the opportunity of other species to thrive.