Hawthorn stoves in the drifting dunes

In the drifting dunes, you enter a different world, a yellowish sandy elevation, lined with unique beautiful coppice stools of beech and oak. When you cut down a tree at ground level, you are left with roots and trunk, the so-called stump. Certain tree species easily sprout new branches from these stumps. If these are also continuously cut, such a stump becomes wider over time. This practice was primarily intended for firewood; they made handles for tools, support poles for the vegetable garden, fences, etc. Coppicing keeps the tree in a relatively youthful state, allowing it to remain vital for much longer. The old "stoven" or "stumps" here achieve a circumference of up to 20 meters. These oak stools are at least centuries old.

Extreme weather conditions prevail on the river dune. In summer, it gets scorching hot, and at night, the sand cools down significantly, becoming cold. Rain also seeps away immediately. Plants that survive in this soil are well adapted to these conditions. Their roots have horizontal branchings that can hold a lot of sand, preventing it from washing away and exposing the roots. Such an extensive root system also allows for the quick uptake of significant amounts of water. Here you find species like sheep's fescue, sand sedge, heather, broom, sand bluebell, hare's-foot, and mouse-ear.

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