Pollarded willows

Returned mid-week to complete the final pieces of work in creating this new habitat. Another restoration job done! Just thought I would explain in a bit more detail what we're trying to do ...

Sallow or Goat Willow (Salix caprea) is the foodstuff for caterpillars of a number of moths, including the sallow kitten and sallow clearwing, but what interests us most is that it is the main food plant for the purple emperor butterfly. The area we are working in has many sallows, but they were all overcrowded by birch and growing very tall and thin. Unable to support themselves they then toppled over and were eaten by the deer.

Straggly willow growth is lopped off ...

Following advice on managing sallows we removed the birch to let light in to promote new growth, and then pollarded the sallows to about six feet. This should make them stronger and keep new growth out of deer range.  All the brash has now been arranged around the pollarded stems to protect from deer depredation.

... and turned into pollard protectors

We have been careful to ensure that the sallows are still shaded from the south and west, as it appears that the Purple Emperor prefers shaded Goat Willow leaves with mid-green, soft, matt (upper surface) leaves. A few taller birch and a mature alder have been left to provide partial shade. We'll keep an eye on light levels during the summer.

Come the Spring we're looking forward to seeing the the new willow shoots.  

The purple empire

At work in the willow

Yesterday the pollarding of the willow was finally finished -  hurrah!  Milo plus helpers made short work of it, and now there are mounds of willow tops protecting the pollarded trees and neat stacks of willow, which when seasoned, we'll try out in the log burner as a change from birch.  We can't wait to see the results of our labour next Spring and look forward to sitting above the willow grove to see if the Purple Emperor butterfly, (one of the reasons that this part of Old Copse is a SSSI), has been enticed back.

Admiring the results so far

The Purple Emperor

The Purple Emperor is the second largest butterfly in Britain ... only the Swallowtail being larger. It is rarely seen unless a special effort is made to find it as it flies high in the tree-tops of woodland where it feeds on aphid honeydew and sap runs. Its range is now restricted to some of the larger woods in southern England. There are colonies in Southwater Woods (eight miles to the west) and at Knepp Castle Estate (nine miles to the southwest), so it's not unreasonable to hope that it could one day return to Old Copse if the conditions are right.