True Skov (True Forest) is a woodland, west of

Skjoldhøjkilen Skjoldhøjkilen is a recreational and natural site, in the district of Brabrand in the western part of Aarhus in Denmark. It stretches westwards from Hasle Hills, like a wavy green strip of meadows, small lakes and woodlands. It is 3.5 km l ...

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

, Denmark. True Skov is named after the small village of True and forms part of the New Forests of Aarhus. It is a relatively recent

afforestation Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees in an area where there was no recent tree cover. There are three types of afforestation: natural Regeneration (biology), regeneration, agroforestry and Tree plantation, tree plan ...

- and the largest within the region of

Søhøjlandet Søhøjlandet (English: ''The Lake-highland'') is the highest lying region in Denmark and at the same time, it has the highest density of lakes.Aarhus Municipality Aarhus Municipality (), known as Århus Municipality () until 2011, is a ''Municipalities of Denmark, kommune'' in the Central Denmark Region, on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , and ...

, True Skov is administered by the State of Denmark.

Nature and facilities

True Skov is primarily a

deciduous forest In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flo ...

, but with

conifers Conifers () are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All e ...

and

pines A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as ...

in some sections.

Alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...

, poplar and

larch Larches are deciduous conifers in the genus ''Larix'', of the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Growing from tall, they are native to the cooler regions of the northern hemisphere, where they are found in lowland forests in the high la ...

has been planted as nursing trees for the young forest. The forest holds a great variety of species, focussing primarily on native species and a number of bush and shrub species has been planted at the forest edges. A section in the western parts, known as Little America, holds North American tree species exclusively, as part of

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

research and to make the forest more interesting altogether. A network of pathways cuts through the otherwise dense plantations of True Skov. Motor vehicles are not allowed, but the pathways are used for a range of activities like strolling, horseback trotting, jogging and

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...

in the winter. The north western parts holds a sail plane landing strip and caution is advised here. True Skov has two fenced areas dedicated to exercising dogs. Such areas are known as hundeskove (lit.: ''dogs-forests'') in Denmark and they can be found across the country, often situated close to towns and villages. An overview of dog-forests in Denmark. File:True Skov 7.1.jpg, View across the southern parts of True Skov. File:True Skov 9.jpg, Recent plantations. Beech. File:Indflyvning 3.jpg, A sail plane landing on the air-fields.

References

Sources

True Skov
Danish Nature Agency * Danish Nature Agency (2006)
True Skov ved Århus
The Environmental Ministry of Denmark {{coord, 56, 10, 18, N, 10, 04, 15, E, type:forest_region:DK, display=title New Forests of Aarhus