Just a short note to wish all our customers – past, present and future, a very Happy New Year and may we all have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010. I hope you all had a very merry Christmas with your family and friends.
If you decide the New Year is a good time to tidy and improve your gardens do let us know as we will be happy to supply a no obligation quote. The winter is the best time to plant new trees, hedges and shrubs while the plants are in their dormant state, also to prune and re-shape any overgrown ones.
If like us you have a good covering of snow everywhere it is also important to feed the birds now as they are finding it very hard to source their usual feed supplies. We had some English Grey Partridge in the garden yesterday, and we have had some Black Grouse feeding closer to the stables than I have ever seen them before which is an indictation of them needing more food.
Hopefully we will see more rare or unusual wildlife in 2010.

We have had a recent inquiry from a firm in China wishing to supply us with stock fencing but much as we like new trading partners we have had to decline the offer. As a “green” company we always try to source our products locally and always within the UK if not within the North of England. This is to try and keep our transport costs and carbon footprint for all our products and services to a minimim. This is particularly relevant at the moment while the eyes of the world are on Copenhagen and the climate change summit being held there.
As you will all have noticed the weather has not improved much in the last few weeks and here at Woodland Enterprises we are all getting fed up of being soaked through to the skin – all free waterproofs gratefully accepted!! The forecast is for frost and snow in the next few days and although that can present us with some different problems while working it would certainly make a change from the rain.
We have been working hard supplying birch bundles for Kelso point to point course and also some private racehorse trainers. The demand for logs has gone up this season as more people discover they are a economic and environmentally friendly alternative to coal, oil etc. However this means that people now expect to be paid for their fallen and wind blown timber where as before they were happy for us to just remove it and clear the site. We have also been installing some more water gates in Hamsterley forest to keep the sheep out as they will do a lot of damage to newly planted saplings and young trees. We have been doing tree safety work in Liverpool for Ashlea – a large firm who sub contract some of their work. We also supply a small number of Christmas trees to our family and friends plus one or two local schools and village halls. Any comments or queries about the website are welcome so please feel free to use the contact page if you wish to get in touch.

The endless heavy rain, floods and high winds have caused us all some problems in the last few weeks and when you work outside all the time they certainly make life interesting. The waterproof clothing has been earning it’s keep recently and the short dark days mean that the lunch hour is a thing of the past – more like a lunch 10 minutes in the winter.
We have been kept busy with tree safety work recently, some of it caused by the high winds, and also with cutting birch for racecourse fences. We had to dismantle a tricky broken crown in a very old and unstable oak tree recently and we have done quite a bit of private garden and tree work locally. The log season has started with some new customers finding us via the website which is good news.
The mud and rain causes access problems on some sites as people understandably do not want their land churned up and even with 4 wheel drive it can be difficult to reach some of the more remote forestry and moorland sites. It is often easier to work once the temperature drops and the ground freezes but with global warming this may be happening less and less. It always feels healthier if we have a cold winter but not too much snow as that is a whole other set of issues!

The recent stormy weather and high winds in the North East of England have been a mixed blessing for us at Woodland Enterprises. The damaged caused by the very strong winds last week has meant we have been busy sorting out dangerous and fallen trees. We always try to remove limbs and stabilise the tree to preserve it, rather than take in all down wherever possible. However it is often too dangerous to work, even on the ground, until the winds have died down when our first job is usually assessing the situation and supplying quotations. In practise this means we our unable to work on some days and snowed under with work the following days but such is the life of a tree surgeon!!
We have also been doing some hedge trimming in private gardens recently and removing some branches from trees growing too close to the electricity power lines. Also we have been cutting, wrapping and supplying birch bundles for Hexham racecourse as the horse racing jump season is well underway.
An unfortunate collision with another car coming out of a side road has written off one the business vehicles but at least no-one was badly hurt. It is a lot easier to replace vehicles than it is to mend the occupants so we are not complaining, although my dad is sorry to see the end of his bright yellow “work-horse” of a pick-up. He was very easily spotted while travelling around the countryside. The insurance company have kindly provided us with a hire vehicle to keep the job on the road but unless we can find a permanent replacement soon my mothers car will be going places it does not normally go!!

This week we have been constructing some flood gates in Hamsterley Forest for the Commision. These are to replace the old ones which were washed away by last months foods. We have also being helping Hexham racecourse prepare their steeplechase fences for the next meeting.  We have also been cutting and delivering some birch bundles and “greens” which are used for dressing their fences. I have been doing some  private tree surgery work in a garden in Woodland as some trees were growing too close to the electricity power lines. There are also some Leylandi trees to be trimmed soon, these are very fast growing trees, a non native species and people often do not realise when planting them just how large they can get. They are good for a quick screeening solution but can be a problem after a few years in the average size garden. As autum is here we have being preparing all of our chainsaw equipment ready for the tree surgery season to start.  The business is currently  in some on-going talks with different companies about future contracts so fingers crossed!  Any comments are welcome and I would look forward to hearing from you.

Well it is just over 2 weeks since the new website was launched and I am very pleased with the interest it has generated for the business. We have had some enquires from outside our usual area of work as well as those closer to home and I have been out giving several estimates. I am looking forward to building long lasting relationships with our new customers.
Last week we were busy re-spacing a young broadleaf plantation on the outskirts of Hexham and we built the working hunter course for Wolsingham Show. In this class the fences can be no higher than 2 foot 9 inches and must be of a natural appearance so we make some out of birch bundles and some from logs, we then dressed all the fences with branches and tree off cuts to suit this style. This week we have been cutting birch to deliver as birch bundles for Hexham Racecourse and I had to finish early today to go to Hamsterley Forest and take down a dangerous limb from a tree overhanging the road for the Forestry Commision.
We have been stock-pileing logs for the winter for several weeks now to make sure they are properly dry and ready to burn for our customers. As this is such an enviromentally friendly way to heat the home and hot water, burning logs is becomming more and more popular. For those who don’t know logs are considered “Carbon Neutral” as they only release the same amount of carbon they have absorbed while growing unlike coal which is much more poluting for the atmosphere.
Feel free to leave me any comments about this blog below.

Our brand new website has been launched.

The redesign of our website has finally been completed and the new updated site is up and running. Many improvements have been made to the site so finding what you need should be quick and easy.

We have also had a new logo designed for the company.