Autumn in Thistle Wood

The oldest trees in Thistle Wood mark their first decade in Autumn 2024. For the first time I can see patches of ground where shade, and a thin carpet of leaves, have suppressed the grass and nettles – this is the very beginning of the creation of a woodland soil, with all its carbon-trapping, fungal and invertebrate treasures. A small triumph.

To mark the anniversary, my daughter and I built a new pond near the cabin. This one is lined, so it won’t dry out in summer. It has lots of rocks, pebbles and gravel in it for beasties to hang out in and to let them crawl out if they want to. We saw a dragonfly laying eggs at the water’s edge soon after we put a few plants in. It already looks like it’s been there for years. Water boatmen, small snails and pond skaters have moved in; I won’t be surprised if frogs and toads find it in February and lay their spawn; I hope for newts. From above the surface of the pond makes a perfect mirror to watch the sky and the trees as they turn.

Other autumn delights include the rich colours produced during abscission, when the trees extract all the sugars and minerals they can from their leaves and cut off life-support – leaving brilliant colours behind before they fall to create a new layer of life on the woodland floor. My favourite colours are those of the guelder rose, a British native shrub – the berries are wonderful translucent garnets; the leaves turn the colour of red wine gums. Crab apples are gradually picked off by birds – who have already had their feast of apples and plums. This year has been poor for nuts – many fewer hazels and acorns than last year – a function of a poor spring. But alder seeds and hawthorn haws are abundant, as ever; so are birch seeds. I’ll collect these in the next few weeks and dry them over winter. The few nuts are already in pots with damp compost – one should never let them dry out.

The woodsman is waiting for true fall, when the trees become bare; and then he gets to work thinning, coppicing, planting, sowing nuts in containers (I use old tree shelters, cut down and crammed into a planter – they are perfect root trainers) and generally assessing the state of things now that he can see what’s what. Thistle Wood has matured amazingly this year – put on a huge amount of growth in height and trunk-width. By the end of winter there will be satisfying stacks of wood for next year’s fuel; chipped offcuts to mulch and more space for the trees that are left. And then… spring will be here…