Trialling plastic-free guards with Kate Humble

Is there something that we can do that would actually make this land count a bit more?

This is what somebody looks like when they have been part of an astonishing gang of Woodland Trust and AONB volunteers who have been here on our land today. And we have planted 685 trees. It's the most amazing feeling.

And the reason that everybody has been here today is that a year ago I suddenly got sort of hit by this feeling that our very steep sloping field, which is a north-facing field, and it's bordered by magnificent ancient woodlands and it's always slightly bothered me that our bit of land was the sort of bald, treeless bit and then there was this very hard line between the pasture and the woodland.

So, I contacted the Woodland Trust and said, 'what do you think? Can we do something that creates habitat for a range of different species of birds and mammals and insects?' And the planting that we have done today has been very carefully thought through, not by me - thank goodness there are experts at the Woodland Trust who could do it - which mirrors basically the species that we've got in the woodland below us.

The other thing that we're doing today is being part of a bit of an experiment. What we're doing here is trialling a number of biodegradable plastic or different material tree shelters to see how they cope with the weather, how they break down, how - if at all - they affect the growth of the trees. And then hopefully what we'll be able to do is ascertain what works best for trees and for nature and for the future of our planet.

It's going to look like a tree patchwork quilt, that's what I'm hoping for. Although sadly I'm probably going to be dead when it's fully in all its glory. But I'm really, really going to enjoy seeing what started today become the beginning of a future ancient woodland.