When thinking of conifers, one might feel a bit ‘schizophrenic’.  Perhaps picturing a Leylandii encroaching on your garden, whilst also remembering your Christmas tree.  Maybe the typical image of conifers is that of a tree with dark green foliage all year round.  However, this would be something of a disservice to the Conifer family - the Pinophyta, which contains an amazing variety of trees, many of which are at risk of extinction.  This group includes cedars, firs, cypresses, junipers, larches, pines, hemlocks, redwoods, spruces, and yews. [caption id="attachment_32107" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Leaves on the branchlets of Dawn Redwood[/caption] Conifers are important because They dominate vast areas of land, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere,  forming the boreal forests or taiga. Softwood from conifers accounts for approximately 45% of global timber production. Pine, spruce and larch are often grown specifically for softwood production. The wood is also used in the paper production[.and, to a lesser extent, in making plastic from chemically treated wood pulp].  Some species produce edible seeds , such as pine nuts provide foods such as pine nuts for humans and wildlife and juniper berries, which are used to flavour gin.  The Monkey Puzzle tree, (also known as the Pehuen Pine, native to Chile and Argentina) produces seeds known as piñones; traditionally harvested by indigenous communities.  [caption id="attachment_27592" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Monkey puzzle tree[/caption] To see the diversity of the Conifer family one could visit the Bedgebury Pinetum.  This is home to one of the world’s most important conifer collections.  Bedgebury was established in 1925 by Kew Gardens and the Forestry Commission.  The curator at Kew had observed that the conifers there were ‘being choked by London Smogs’.  The site at Bedgebury, situated on the Southern Kentish weald, was ideal.  It offered an escape from the pollution of London and it had wet and free draining areas, plus varied soils so it a range of conifer could be grown. The land already had some conifers that had been planted by Viscount Beresford - an evergreen enthusiast.  In 1925, some 315 trees were planted.  This year, to celebrate reaching a century, some 89 of the original trees are marked with special yellow labels.  For  its first twenty years, the pinetum was managed by William Dallimore. His diaries record in some detail the trees he planted, and the challenges faced in establishing the pinetumIf you visit, then you might walk through through Dallimore Valley, and view his legacy. Bedgebury soon became a centre for the scientific interest in conifers, their conservation, and landscape planning.  The current curator is Dan Luscombe. Apart from seeing a range of conifers, the pinetum offers a variety of activities, e.g. family cycling, mountain biking and walking, There is also the play trail or you can explore the canopy on a Go Ape tree-top adventure or challenge.  It is rumoured that the Gruffalow lurks within the grounds of the  Pinetum. There is also a cafe, serving a range of drinks, plus  breakfast and lunch options. The pinetum is open from from 8 AM to 8 PM (March 2025 to 26 October 2025), and there are charges for car parking.  

Flowers of the woodland floor. Some woodland flowers enjoy the dappled light of the woodland floor beneath the canopy.  They grow in relatively shady, cool and damp conditions in the humus-rich soils.  Polish scientists at the Nicolaus Copernicus University have been studying four species that often grow together in European woodlands - namely Wood anemone Yellow anemone Lily of the valley Common may lily These are perennial plants that ‘come to life’ in Spring, producing a carpet  of flowers across the woodland floor.  However, as much as they share a liking for the shady, cool and moist conditions found there, they differ in their sensitivity / tolerance to rainfall / moisture levels in the summer months: which may change their distribution as summers become warmer and longer.  The team modelled various warming scenarios which suggested that the ranges of these species may change / contract with hotter and drier summers.  The common may lily is one that may be particularly affected and no longer share the same range or woodlands as the others studied.  If climate change takes a hold, it may be that ‘assisted migration’ may be needed to help such plants to find suitable ‘climatic refugia’. more on plant migration ...... With climate change, both plants and animals need to adapt.  With increasing warmth, many species may ‘need’ to move towards cooler latitudes.  Whilst many animals are mobile, they may be able [over time] to access new suitable areas, plants on the other hand are dependent on the dispersal of their fruits / seeds.  Fruit and seed dispersal may involve various animals, including birds.  If the birds are resident or non-migrating species, then it is probable that they will only disperse seeds over relatively short distances.   Migratory birds however travel great distances but often in the wrong direction.  Many birds that migrate at the end of the summer, travel south to warmer climes.  Work at the University of Exeter has studied a number of woodlands across Europe and bird species that feed on the fruits of 81 plants species (and help disperse their seeds).  They found that only about a third of the plants had fruits (seeds) that might be dispersed northwards by birds.  To benefit from this northward dispersal, the plants needed to either have a very long fruiting period (eg.holly, juniper) or a very late fruiting period (eg. Ivy). Full details of this study here Food production and food waste. As Sir David Attenborough has pointed out in a recent episode of Planet Earth III, producing food to feed the world comes at significant environmental cost.  Natural ecosystems are often burned (forests) or drained (peatlands) and then turned over to agriculture to produce crops or farm animals. The forests of the Amazon have been significantly affected by burning and logging,  with the concomitant loss of biodiversity.  But they are not alone. In Mexico, forests are being lost as the land is being turned over to avocado production.  Mexico’s neighbour, the USA has a voracious appetite for this fruit.  The forests are being turned into ‘avocado orchards’.  Avocado trees are ‘thirsty’, they need a generous supply of water.  They consume much more water than the natural species [eg. oyamel), so that natural aquifers are being depleted.  This affects local farmers growing crops such as tomatoes and corn. One particularly sad aspect of food production is that much of the food is wasted. Some is lost between harvest and reaching the retail sector, and then more is ‘lost’ in the home. Food may not be used, or not used in time so it starts to rot, become rancid etc.  A lot of food goes to land fill, where it may generate methane - a potent greenhouse gas. Sprouting sequoias. In recent times, there have been many images of the fires ravaging the forests of the west coast of the States.  Many thousands of hectares and millions of trees have been lost, including many of the giant redwoods.  However, recent studies have found that some of the burned Sequoias are producing new growth.  They are sprouting from roots and trunks, from dormant buds that have lain hidden under the thick bark for decades, this despite the loss of the canopies of the trees.  To fuel this growth, the trees are using reserve materials that have been stored for 50+ years.

Following the First World War, the UK’s woodland coverage was at an all time low – just 5 per cent of total land area. The Acland Committee reported to then Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, that state organisation would be the most effective way to bring about re-afforestation of the UK and plan for the future of British woodland.   As a result, the Forestry Commission was set up and, throughout the early decades of the twentieth century, it voraciously bought up land.  The aim of the Forestry Commission was to ensure that there would be a strategic reserve of timber, so, as it acquired land, it began to plant - mainly with conifers . ‘Low grade’ lands (those that were less in demand for agriculture) were pressed into service such as areas around Thetford Chase and Kielder, as were some sandy coastal sites (e.g. Holkham in Norfolk Read more...

Some further woody related words to impress your scrabble playing friends with! I: Iceni: A tribe of ancient Britons inhabiting an area of south-eastern England in present-day Norfolk and Suffolk. Their queen, Boudicca, led an unsuccessful rebellion against the Romans in AD 60. SCORE = 7 Igneous :  A type of rock, formed from solidified lava or magma. SCORE : 8 Ingle: A domestic fire or fireplace. SCORE: 6 Inglenook: A small recess that adjoins a fireplace. SCORE: 14 Read more...

Scrub is not woodland per se, but it is often found where woodland starts or ends; or where woodland might develop (e.g. on an abandoned field).Scrub or scrubland is generally vegetation dominated by bushes / shrubs (e.g. blackthorn and hawthorn) with many stems, perhaps reaching to a height of 12 / 15 feet – so that some sort of canopy develops. Many scrub plants are pioneer species, which grow fast and can colonise open habitats quite rapidly. Such pioneer species frequently produce large numbers of seeds (for example, bramble has lots of seeds in the attractive succulent fruits), which are often dispersed by birds (such as thrushes) or by wind – e.g. travellers joy / old man’s beard. Seeds generally germinate better in open grassland than in dense shade. Some scrub species (like blackthorn and gorse) have spines on their stems which are effective in deterring browsing animals (deer, sheep & rabbits) Read more...

Yew woodland (in Southern England) tends to develop on the thin soils that form over chalk, often on the sides of dry valleys . They can be found along the North Downs, and in West Sussex on parts of the South Downs. Yew woodlands can also be found in the Cotswolds and in the Wye Valley (on limestone). In Ireland, there is a significant Yew wood near Killarney, again growing on top of limestone. Yew woodland may develop from chalk grassland, when grazing by sheep or rabbits is removed. With no grazing, Juniper and / or Hawthorn start to grow.  Then, between these, shade-tolerant Yew seedlings begin to grow.   Eventually, the Yew will overtake the Juniper / Hawthorn, and shade them out. The dead remains of juniper and hawthorn sometimes may be seen on the floor of a Yew woodland. Read more...

Birch is a pioneer species, that is often replaced by oak, beech or other species.   After the last Ice Age, birch moved in quickly as the glaciers receded.   Even now, after clearfell in almost any part of the country,  birch is usually the first to appear by natural regeneration (and can act as a nurse for planted oak etc.); some refer to it as the 'forester's weed'.    Birch woodland is generally “open” and the trees are often of a similar age and size. Birch regeneration is often respaced (thinned) with a clearing saw  (the resulting thinnings may be used for horse jumps - like the Grand National). However, birch woodland has mainly persisted (in the U.K.) where conditions are harsh and limit the growth of other species. Read more...

At the end of the last Ice Age, the recolonisation of the British Isles began.  Plant and animal species moved across the 'land bridge' that connected us with continental Europe.   Trees and other plants began to colonise and forest formed in many places.  As it took some time for the climate to warm, the first forests were probably coniferous – resembling the Caledonian Forests that can still be seen in Scotland today.   These early forests and woods would be characterised by pine, birch, aspen, rowan, juniper and perhaps oak.   At one stage, it is thought that such forest / woodlands covered some 15,000 km2 – a vast area.   Now, only a few remnants of this once enormous ecosystem survive in Scotland. The Caledonian forest / woodlands represent a unique ecosystem in the British Isles – they are remnants of the vast wilderness that once existed here; and across on the Continent – as  boreal coniferous forest. These forests and woodlands are populated particularly by the Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris).  One of the larger tracts of this native pine forest is Read more...