What We Do
Estate & Woodland Management
Woodlands of all sizes require management to ensure their continuing health and to maximise their timber value and benefits to flora and fauna. We can provide a long term management service to estates and woodland owners. Working with you we can draw up a management plan detailing required work over a 1, 5, 10 or 20 year period. Once agreed we carry out the work without you needing to worry about it. We can advise and apply for relevant grants and licences and negotiate on your behalf. Work can consist of timber harvesting or thinning work, ride creation, planting, fencing, footpaths to simple jobs like ride cutting or litter picking. The package is drawn up to meet your specific needs. In some instances the cost of drawing up a detailed management plan can be grant aided.
Professional advice & reports
As well as the above we are happy to advise on particular issues on a one-off basis. These may be tree safety or woodland reports, controlling Japanese Knotweed or other noxious weeds for your own or mortgage company needs, tree planting, hedge planting, deer management, spraying regimes, paddock maintenance, grant aid, roading etc. We also act as expert witnesses on such matters as tree reports, tree damage, illegal felling, tree and woodland related accidents etc.
Woodland valuations
If you are planning to buy a woodland we can visit and advise on a suitable valuation price and any work that may be required or visit your existing woodland and value timber stock and advise on a likely sales price. We can also provide a quote to carry out required work pre or post sale.
Tree Planting & Hedge Planting
We carry out tree and hedge planting on any scale from a single tree to miles of hedging. Sites can be within existing woodland, farm woodlands, shelterbelts, open fields, gardens or landscaping around buildings. We have extensive experience of planting all sizes of trees from 40cm hedge plants to 6m specimen trees. We will advise on the right size and species of tree for the job as well as protection against animal damage, staking, watering and weeding.
Fencing
We can supply and erect all types of fencing including deer, rabbit, stock, equine, post and rail, close board and security fencing. We also erect entrance and field gates , stiles, kissing gates, bridges and timber boardwalks
Weed control
Millward Forestry has specialised in weed control for many years. More trees die each year from lack of weeding than any other reason. Did you know that cutting the grass around a tree is worse than not cutting it at all? The best way to establish a tree is to maintain at least a 1m weed free area around it for 4-5 years after planting. Weeding is far cheaper than replacing failed trees. We use a wide variety of equipment including Utility Vehicle mounted sprayers, mist blowers and knapsack sprayers. These days when everyone is keen to minimise the use of pesticides we can advise on suitable products and application methods to maximise their effectiveness and reduce costs. We have wide experience of applying pesticides in areas of high public usage such as parks and golf courses and treating sensitive areas such as along river banks. We can treat difficult, noxious weeds such as ragwort, Japanese knotweed and giant hogweed.
From April 1st 2009 Land owners and developers may be able to claim 150% corporation tax allowance for Land Remediation relief on the cost of treating Knotweed under the Finance Bill 2009.
We can apply on your behalf to the Environment Agency for any necessary permission to apply herbicides in or near water. All our operators are NPTC certified to apply pesticides and we carry £5 million public liability insurance. You can find more information on Ragwort, Japanese Knotweed, Bracken and Giant Hogweed and the herbicides we use to control them on our Useful Documents page
Paddock Spraying & Maintenance
We offer a comprehensive paddock spraying and maintenance service to farmers, livery stables, stud farms and horse owners to rid their paddocks of noxious weeds such as ragwort, dock, nettle, thistle etc. We spray over 400 acres of paddocks a year using our state of the art computerised John Deere Gator Utility Vehicle with a 6m boom. The very low ground pressure tyres ensure ground damage is minimised and we can treat areas that conventional sprayers cannot reach. The machine only needs 6ft of access so narrow gates and gardens are possible. We can spray any area from half an acre upwards. We also offer fertilising and chain harrowing to improve existing paddocks or do a full reseeding job if required.
Bracken spraying
Bracken is an invasive and poisonous plant. It can quickly colonise and take over land if not controlled. We have specialised in bracken spraying for many years. Recent legislation has meant that it is now not practically feasible to spray bracken using knapsack sprayers due to the minimum water volume required. This means that machine spraying is the only practical way to achieve this. Our John Deere Gator is specially adapted to be able to raise the boom high enough to do the work and its rough ground capability means it can go where a normal tractor cannot.
The herbicide of choice is Asulox. It is a very specific herbicide affecting only Bracken and Docks and so can be applied where Bracken is taking over new tree planting or heathland areas. We guarantee an 80% success rate with bracken spraying although follow up spraying the next season may be required where Bracken density is very high. Bracken has a very small window of opportunity for spraying, generally from the beginning of July to mid August. If you are planning to carry out bracken control please book it in early as we get very busy during this period.
Exhibition Organisation
As part of Millward Forestry we offer an exhibition and event organisation and administration service. We have handled all the administration, marketing and financial control for the APF Forestry Exhibition for the last 25 years and work on a contract basis for the Game Fair, helping to set up and run their event each year. We have experience of running European and World competitions including The Europe Lumberjack Sports Championships, the Husqvarna World poleclimbing championships and the European Chainsaw carving championships. If you have any event where you need administration and office back up, support and organisation or where you need logistics help or another pair of hands on the ground during build up we can help. We can work on a day rate or on an agreed figure for the whole event. We have excellent office facilities and secretarial support. Contracting out services can make very sound economic sense, you only pay when you need us.
Deer and Wildlife Management
Deer numbers in the south-east are rapidly increasing and are having an important detrimental economic and environmental impact. Even the Government has now admitted that deer numbers need reducing by 35%. Deer related traffic accidents are costing over £11 million a year and many important woodlands are having their flora destroyed by over grazing. It is very rare that any tree planting in the south-east can be successful without some form of protection against deer. All Forestry Commission woodland creation grants now demand that a deer control plan is in place. You even be able to get grant aid for deer fencing or the provision of high seats on your land to assist in their control.
Deer management is far more than just shooting deer on sight. We can help with identifying the problems and the species of deer concerned, advising on the most suitable methods of control or exclusion, drawing up a sustainable management plan and implementing it. We will give you professional and unbiased advice as to what is best for your situation. Control measures can include fencing, provision of deer lawns, leaving ‘sacrifice areas’ and reduction in numbers by culling. Ian is a qualified deer stalking instructor. We can visit the site, advise, draw up a deer management plan and carry out suitable control measures, even on areas of high public use. We can advise on letting out stalking and deer stalking leases. Many owners have been caught out by thinking they have dealt with the problem by letting out the deer stalking. Accepting a seemingly high price for the lease can mean someone comes in and shoots your trophy bucks and then disappears. Deer numbers need to be managed carefully, reducing deer numbers down to what the area can sustain and careful balancing of the population structure. To do it properly requires skill, professionalism & dedication on behalf of the stalker. Rabbit control Rabbits are a continuing problem in many areas. We can offer control services by gassing, shooting or fencing.
Christmas Trees
We run a wholesale and retail Christmas tree business, Tree For Christmas, supplying trees to businesses, garden centres etc. all over the south east and London and providing large display trees of up to 40ft
We operate a very popular schools service whereby we supply wholesale price trees to schools for them to sell on to parents to make money for school funds. Last year over 140 schools took part. Full details are on the TFC website, just follow the link below. We are also interested in new retail sites or taking over an existing retail franchise. You can see more details, availability and prices on our own Trees For Christmas Website at – www.treesforchristmas.co.uk
Site Clearance
We can arrange for sites to be cleared of any vegetation whether it is woodland infested with Rhododendron or a field or paddock overgrown with brambles, nettles and young saplings. In some cases removal of Rhododendron or other invasive weed species may be eligible for grant aid. We can also remove tree stumps from any location. Burning is becoming less acceptable and, in many cases, impractical. We have a range of machinery available that can eliminate the need to burn from chippers and mulchers to excavators to carry out the work as effectively and economically as possible.
Contact Us for advice and quotations