Blog - Trees

Horse Chestnut Woes! - Dealing with disease

Horse Chestnut Woes! – Dealing with disease

by Chris, 5 September, 2008, 25 comments

cankerBack in 2006, the Woodlands blog commented on the problems facing horse chestnuts, namely disease ( leaf miner moths, leaf blotch fungus, bleeding canker) and drought. The last of these may have disappeared for the time being as we have just experienced one of the wettest Augusts on record, however bleeding canker and the leaf miner continue to be problematical and are spreading. Read more...

Estimating the Age of a Tree - Counting the annual rings

Estimating the Age of a Tree – Counting the annual rings

by Angus, 9 May, 2008, 10 comments

When a tree has been cut down or felled, then it is relatively easy to work out its age by counting the growth or annual rings that can be seen on the sawn-off stump. Under the bark of a tree is a special tissue (called the cambium) which forms new cells so that the tree can grow. Differences in the rate at which cells are produced by this tissue give rise to the annual or growth rings. If conditions are good for growth (warm, regular rainfall) then the ring that is formed will be wider than that created in a year where the tree struggles for water, or it is cold. There is one ring for each year of a tree's life. (In any given year, an annual ring will have two components - a lighter coloured band of tissue (larger vessels) formed in the Spring and Summer and a darker band (smaller vessels)that is created when growth is slower in late Summer / Autumn.) Read more...

Some Common Botanical Terms

Some Common Botanical Terms

by Lewis, 2 May, 2008, 0 comments

Arboretum : an area where woody plants (trees and shrubs) are grown for scientific/ educational purposes, for example, Westonbirt, the National Arboretum near Tetbury in Gloucestershire. http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-6xcmkm Archaeophytes : archaeophytes are ‘ancient introductions’, plants that were introduced (accidentally or deliberately) by humans before 1500 AD. Ancient introductions are plants like poppies (Papaver sp), Read more...

Grow Your Own Truffles

Grow Your Own Truffles

by catherine, 4 April, 2008, 103 comments

Usually one thinks of collecting truffles as a solitary activity carried out in secrecy at dead of night. However it is now possible to buy trees already inoculated with truffle spores. Read more...

Sweet Chestnut

by Chris, 21 March, 2008, 27 comments

Both horse chestnut and sweet chestnut trees are common throughout the UK, though the former is presently under attack from moths, bleeding canker, drought and leaf blotch fungus. Like oak and beech, to which it is botanically related, the sweet chestnut can grow to a height of 30 metres (for basic information about the tree, see the Woodlands “Guide to Tree Identification”). Read more...

Bark

by Chris, 7 March, 2008, 7 comments

Tree trunks (and some of the roots) are covered with bark. Bark is the material or tissue that overlays and surrounds the wood (xylem tissue) of a tree. It consists of a number of different tissues, whose amount varies from species to species. The outermost layer consists of dead cells – the cork. The bark protects the tree from dehydration, from physical damage or fire (sometimes), and disease due to bacteria and fungi. It may also offer a home to insects and various epiphytes (mosses and lichens). Read more...

Oak Decline

by catherine, 29 February, 2008, 1 comments

You may have seen doom-laden stories in the press recently about “oak decline” (or “oak dieback”) - “the mighty oak battles for survival”. The situation is probably not as serious as reported, but it is a fascinating story. Read more...

A review of "Beechcombings" by Richard Mabey

A review of “Beechcombings” by Richard Mabey

by Prof Julian Evans, 18 January, 2008, 2 comments

Many readers will know Richard Mabey from his outstanding digest of all things botanical, "Flora Britannica": my own copy is frequently referred to. "Beechcombings" is very different. Read more...

« Previous Page — Next Page »

Wild Flower Guide

Badger

Read our guide to wild flowers of woodland and hedgerow

Topics

Tags