Our first restoration plot sits on a farm that had been grazed bare for decades. A year ago we planted the first forty thousand native saplings there with Northwind Growers. This summer we went back to count.

What survived

About 81% of the saplings made it through their first winter, well above the 70% we planned for. Oak and hazel did best. Rowan struggled on the exposed slope, so we are replanting that corner with hawthorn this autumn.

What came back

The farmer, Marcus, keeps a bird list. Yellowhammers and a pair of barn owls have returned to the hedgerows for the first time in twenty years. Soil carbon readings are up too, though one year is too soon to call it a trend.

One native tree goes in the ground for every loop a customer closes. The next forty thousand are already in the nursery.