Silvopasture alleys

Silvopasture alleys can be designed to fit into existing agroforestry systems, support and enhance aspects of your grass and livestock management, and reflect your farm business' requirements.

Universally they provide shelter, shade and beneficial alternative browse, improving animal welfare and farm resilience.

What are silvopasture alleys?

Alley planting uses strips of trees and shrubs to divide a piece of land into alleys which can then be used as sheltered grazing blocks for livestock. It's incredibly adaptable, with the orientation of tree alleys easy to tailor according to the slope, prevailing wind or existing management of your land.

Benefits of silvopasture alleys

Trees provide much needed shelter for animals when the temperature rises, but they're also invaluable during colder conditions. During cold and wet weather, livestock can require considerably more feed to stay warm. Trees create warmer and more sheltered microclimates in these weather events, meaning resources are used more efficiently.

Alley planting can also:

• improve soil drainage, keeping the ground warmer for longer in early spring and late autumn – extending the grazing and cropping season by up to 17 weeks
• support animal health and reduce worm burden, with leaves from certain trees rich in trace minerals and natural anti-inflammatory compounds
• open new income streams through different crops including wood fuel, nuts or fruit.

How to plant silvopasture alleys

Tree alleys can be adapted to integrate with your existing farming methods. Above is one example of how to create a well-designed, 5m-wide tree alley, which is structured like so:

• fence
• browsable row (at 0.5 metres)
• central row (at 2.5 metres)
• browsable row (at 4.5 metres)
• fence (at 5 metres).

Orientation

Positioning a tree alley north to south will capture the highest amount of sunlight between the rows. That said, the beauty of silvopasture is that the orientation of each alley can differ according to the different factors at play on your farm, including the slope, prevailing winds or specific field management techniques (such as planting along contours to reduce soil erosion).

Outside rows

The outside rows of your alley design can act as wind shelters and as browse for livestock. Leave one metre of space between each tree in this row, and four metres between this row and the other outside row.

Best tree species for outside rows of a tree alley

• Goat willow.
• Hazel.
• Rowan.
• Aspen.
• Common alder.

Central row

Between the two outside rows, you’ll plant a central row of standard trees which offer long-term shade, shelter and even timber. Typically, there should be 12 trees to a central row, with six metres of spacing between each tree in the row.

Best tree species for the central row of a tree alley

• English oak.
• Field maple.
• Walnut.
• Wild cherry.
• Small-leaved lime.

Fencing

At first, while the trees are young, your alley will need protecting from being nibbled by livestock. Add stock-proof fencing on either side which can then be removed once the trees mature and become more established.

For more information on appropriate species for your site location and growing conditions, please see our tree species handbook.

Thanks to Dr Lindsay Whistance for her input into this work.

This work has also been supported by players of People's Postcode Lottery.