Well, it's all much more complicated than that.

So they introduced old, tough breeds of cattle and horses, similar to the large animals that would once have grazed the land thousands of years ago. But to keep the geese coming, they needed grassland. It began when huge numbers of greylag geese found the marshy land, and consumed the vegetation that would otherwise have clogged up the open water. This would, he thought - and actually did - result in a tremendous increase in biodiversity. He believed in minimal intervention, in allowing natural processes to develop. They were inspired by a Dutch ecologist, Frans Vera, who had used a similar approach on a reserve in the Netherlands called the Oostvaardersplassen. This is just one tiny piece of the jigsaw of reasons that made the Burrells decide to take a radically different approach: they would allow nature to take the lead, and see what happened. It's also affected by insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, all of which are part of the armoury of a modern farmer. It's far more complicated than that - but if this huge network is disturbed, the health of the plant, or tree, is affected. From the roots there extends a network of mycorrhizae - tiny filaments of fungus which take carbohydrates from the tree, but in return supply it with water and essential nutrients. He explained to the Burrells that they too were at risk - and the reason wasn't age: it was ploughing and compaction of soil due to cattle grazing.Ī tree's roots may extend two and a half times the radius of the crown, not far below the surface of the soil, where oxygen is available. He was optimistic, and he moved on to examine the other great oaks on the estate. It just so happened that in 1999, they had invited a tree expert called (appropriately) Ted Green, to come and investigate whether a 550 year-old oak tree could possibly be saved. By 1999 it was clear that the business was not viable: intensive farming, which was supposed to lead to healthy profits, was in fact resulting in huge losses. What happened next is complicated - but basically, for all sorts of reasons, it didn't work. he began doing what every modern farmer is supposed to do: rationalise, intensify, diversify, and, if possible, spread fixed costs over a larger area.' The five tenant farms were struggling and ready to give up, so Charlie took them all back and began to amalgamate the dairies, streamline and improve farm buildings, and invest in expensive machinery. Charlie Burrell, the husband of the writer, Isabella Tree, had taken the estate over from his grandmother in 1987 and immediately set about modernising it: '. It's about an ancient estate in Sussex called Knepp Castle. It changes the way you see the world - even well-known and much-loved landscapes. It's horrifying, uplifting, a catalogue of things to despair about, a litany of things to be hopeful about.

Wilding by isabella tree review