Trees

On the hills directly behind the croft sits Cormonachan Woodlands, which spans  158 acres of ancient Atlantic oak woodland and areas of old coppiced hazel. Some of these trees are 300 years old, forming part of Scotland's rainforest. Cormonachan Croft would have once been an extension of this, but unfortunately, 30 years ago, the old trees were all felled illegally. Part of our mission as landowners of the croft is to begin the process of returning it to its original state as an ancient oak forest.

Our job initially seemed daunting, but in reality, many of the trees self-seeded, all they needed was the opportunity to grow, be protected, and nurtured. We have planted some key species for diversity and thinned out around the Oaks, as these are the slowest growing and tend to be overshadow by other species.

Many of our tree Species are useful and valuable resources, such as Willow, Alder and Hazel,  which can be coppiced to provide wood for our wood burner.  Willow is an absolute favourite food of the goats, so nothing goes to waste, all branches are stripped bare!

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We have, of course, planted a range of fruit trees to hopefully provide a bounty one day, though they are still young.

We have planed over 500 mixed species hedgerow trees around our only flat area on the croft, this will provide a sheltered area for fruit and vegetable growing.