We plant a tree for every Getting Started Comfort Package that has been completed and last week on Friday it was once again time to go to the woods. Under the patronage of the county commisioner Peter Moskopp we headed off to Kettig with 75 sessile oak trees. As always it was great fun and almost the entire Koblenz team was there. Botanical and technical advice was given by Jonas Frings from the State Forestry Department who also provided the trees and the protective coverings against the deer. Firstly, we planted the saplings for the first time with the Göttinger Handelbars as they are known. They look like the handlebars of a bicycle, hence the name. It is a device especially developed by the University of Göttingen to plant seedlings with a root length of up to 30 cm. It simplifies planting and is much easier than a spade and a hoe to use. Sessile oaks are ideal for the forest of the future, they defy climate change and cope well with drought. They grow between 30 and 60 cm a year in the first years and reach a height of 30-40 metres after around 40 years. They can in principle live up to 800 years, but this is not desirable in domestic forestry. The trees are planted in a cluster around a fixed point and the team worked hard. It was a wonderful, sunny afternoon, very successful and we learnt a lot. We finished off with well-deserved coffee and delicious cake at Café Tante Miesche in Kettig.
