First cut

I went up to our wood this afternoon to mow the paths.  It's about eight years since we planted it and the canopy is just starting to close over when the trees are in leaf.  As time passes the vigorous meadow grasses, which need plenty of daylight to grow, will die back and the shorter, slower-growing woodland species will take their place.  The deer-guards will split as the trunks thicken and become less vulnerable to the browsing of the roe deer.