When dealing with ground that has had many years of use from a monoculture crop that removes all its nutrients and changes the soil PH balance. It is not possible to just plant a tree and expect it to thrive.
So a great deal of work needs to go into the ground preparation to ensure that the trees planted will thrive.
The following list and slide show, will hopefully give you an idea of the work that is involved in a full ecosystem regeneration process
Digging the swales, where each tree will be planted. these are introduced to assist in water catchment.
The first hole is ready, to start receiving the new components to give the best conditions for the tree to thrive.
The berm bellow the swale will eventually be planted with nitrogen fixing plants and herbs to retain the topsoil and give nutrients back to soil.
At the base of the hole the first layer to be added is wood chips soaked in a mycelium tea
The second layer is twigs and branches from oak and willow trees that will absorb water and slowly release it during the hotter days. They will also decompose over time giving a good habitat for organisms in the soil.
The final soil layer is the mixture of localised soil, high quality nutrient rich top soil and 20% aged manure
Digging the hole for the tree
Planting the tree
Once the tree is planted the soil is covered with a straw & hay mixed mulch
The tree is now ready to be watered
These are only the final steps in the process of planting a tree and does not include all the time and energy that goes into harvesting and processing the raw materials to make the wood chips and nutrient rich soil.