The Trust planted 25000 trees on 2.5ha of land at Kyles Scalpay in April 2008 as part of a trial to investigate the practicalities of growing wood crops for fuel. Similar projects are taking place at 2 other sites in the Outer Hebrides to identify the best growing conditions and techniques.

The planting was challenging, on a site that was very wet and overgrown with rushes. Ground preparation was carried out by a 13t excavator which opened up ditches between old lazy beds and turned surface material to create beds suitable for planting.

Poplar sticks were easy to plant, simply being pressed into the soil. Willow, alder and sycamore were more delicate and required some protection from weeds. Most were therefore planted through plastic, with some being planted in bare ground. The trees planted in bare ground are now considerably shorter and some are hard to see amongst weeds. The added advantage of planting through plastic was that extra moisture was available for the young trees in what was the driest spring in living memory.

It was hoped that the first wood could be harvested in 3 years time when the willow and poplar should have grown well enough to be coppiced. Growth hasn’t been quite as quick as was forecast. So in 2011 we are expecting another few years growth before it will be suitable for drying, chipping and burning in solid fuel boilers.