The Tree Council’s annual tree weeks have been an undoubted success, emanating from the 1973  “Plant a tree in ’73” campaign (some rather cynical individuals chanted “cut it down in ’74”) and must have resulted in not only in promoting the whole idea of trees but in planting many thousands across the country in parks, gardens, roadsides, corners of farmland and development sites to name but a few.  The Tree Coucil ( http://www.treecouncil.org.uk) is our foremost campaigner and umbrella body for UK organisations involved in tree planting, care and conservation. Forestry and woodlands are a long-term business but those of us planting in ’73 can see the fruits of our labours: we stand back and look up at the hornbeam, hazel, hawthorn and fieldmaple spreading wide and high;  the oak, ash, beech and birch are trees, a miraculous metamorphosis from those tiny whips planted during the cold winter months – it seems like yesterday.  We plant for the next generation but once established trees grow quickly so we can all enjoy watching them develop. Read more...

Of course woodland buyers can be any age (as long as they are above 18 in order to be able to enter into a contract for a land purchase).  However, we decided to do a study of actual woodland buyers to see how old they actually were when they bought the woodland and most people were happy to tell us.  The study was of the individuals responding to the telephone questionnaire rather than the average age of the couple, where it was bought jointly - but we assume this will not have distorted out results significantly. Read more...

Plants take up essential nutrients (nitrates, phosphates, potassium, magnesium etc) through their roots, but some also take up other, more unusual substances – such as silicon, nickel, cadmium, copper, cobalt. Grasses, in particular, are known to take up silicon and then deposit it in their leaves.  The silicon that they absorb is converted into tiny granules called phytoliths, which are often located under the waxy cuticle.   Read more...

When I went looking for woodland to buy, I looked at the ground before the trees, which probably sounds a bit odd.  If you’ve seen people looking at the floor in a car park and wondered what on earth they were doing; unless they’ve dropped their keys, they’re probably botanists.  What is growing on the ground can tell you all sorts of things like how old the woodland is and what type of soil you have. I am only an amateur and although I do have the advantage of some professional training in the field of surveying for wildlife, you don’t need it if you want to survey your own wood. Read more...

We all sometimes wonder how big a tree is. We can guess the height and measure the circumference, but we really need to know more for two reasons: we don't want to be ripped off even if we're only selling firewood; and the Forestry Commission only allows us to fell trees, without a licence,  up to a maximum of 2 cubic metres of wood per 3 month period if the wood is being sold, or 5 cubic metres if it's for our own use *. Read more...