[missdevon]

Hello,
I would like to plant a wood of native trees this Autumn, half an acre or so, and I'm looking for advice about which varieties to plant beside each other.

I intend to plant ash, hazel and willow mainly because they are the most common around here but I'd like to include some alder, birch, aspen, yew and bushes too.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Belfast]

what kind of soil you got?
is it well drained or very wet?
how high above sea leave is the land?
What is the aspect?
what part of the country?

Native Irish Trees --- List of Trees Native to Ireland
http://www.gardenplansireland.com/forum/about69.html

[missdevon]

Of course I should have included those details

It's about 275ft above sea level, the soil is quite heavy and dense. It's well-drained. The view (if that's what you mean by aspect) is farmland and bog. I'm in East Galway.

[medieval knievel]

by aspect he probably means which direction the land slopes.

[Garlicbreath]

and what direction it faces, eg. south facing slope. I'm sure your trees will appreciate the view regardless

[missdevon]

Sorry I wasn't sure... There's a couple of rows of mature ash and beech already there and I was going to plant them to the South of that row. It's fairly flat land and is open to south, west and east more or less. Hope this helps

[Belfast]

"The importance of light
Put bluntly, plants die without sunlight. Sunlight is the 'engine' that powers growth - a process called photosynthesis.

In the wild (which is where most garden plants come from) light levels vary. Being cunning little chaps, different plants evolved to thrive in different levels of light. Clearly the amount of light your garden gets will have a big impact on what plants grow well.
Garden aspect
©
Aspect
The overall amount of light received depends on aspect, the direction your garden faces. Use a compass.

* North-facing gardens get the least light and can be damp
* South-facing gardens get the most light
* East-facing gardens get morning light
* West-facing gardens get afternoon and evening light"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/htbg/module1/light1.shtml

what is the plan to use the wood for ?

fire wood
Shelter
Decorative

[medieval knievel]

alder tends to prefer riverbanks, so your soil may be too well drained for it.
if you're intending to crop for firewood, birch and willow would be good fast growing species. hazel is generally an understorey plant, so i assume would do well under brich, which doesn't cast shade as deep as a lot of other trees.
rowan would be another option.

[Guelder]