Giles Hill
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Everything posted by Giles Hill
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The only thing I'd question is the size - a 10cm DBH tree planted 2 years ago = semi mature stock, it would be quite unusual for a tree of that size to be planted in a general garden area. 10cm girth would be more usual. Norway maples transplant very easily and if it's only been in two years its root system isn't going to be greatly different from a nursery tree and it should be no problem if you wait until early winter and do what 'Tree Planter' suggests. If its a 10cm girth then it will be an easy enough job to do on your own. If it's a 10cm diameter girth then you'll need some help to move it!
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Well, I finally got around looking closer a couple of weeks back and think you've hit the nail on the head. No evidence of fungi or disease, but what was noticeable was the age class. The majority of the trees affected are youngish - around 30cm dbh and they're mostly hedgerow trees. It looks like the surrounding hedge plants such as hawthorn have been more successful at drawing water from the soil and have either out competed them for the available moisture, or just survived better. The older bigger ash seem to be fine, I think it's just the younger ones. I guess there might be a long term effect where an age class is missing.
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You'll just need to find out if they are formally protected in any way. Trees in gardens can be protected by TPO, by planning condition, or by being situated in a Conservation Area. The fact they are part of a buffer zone in a greenbelt provides no formal protection to garden trees. I'd imagine the planning condition may be the relevant one here, but you'll need to check the TPO / Conservation Area situation. Planning conditions normally state that planting needs to be retained for a certain number of years.
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Thanks Fungus, I'll check it out.
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Thanks for the replies, I'll look a little closer for pests / diseases / other symptoms - I've only noticed them when driving about and assummed it was a general weather thing.
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There seem to be a lot of bald-looking ash around here, some seemed to have dropped their leaves before the end of August and a lot of the others aren't far behind. I've not looked closely and am presuming it's a case of them 'thinking' its autumn already rather than pests or diseases. Any thoughts as to what is triggering this? The relatively cold / damp summer I guess?? I've not had time to look in here for a while so if this has already been discussed, would someone mind pointing me in the direction of the relevant thread?
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I don't think you could rely on planting to drain the lawn - it would certainly be unlikely to do the job in the winter. If you have any kind of slope, you could put a pond at the lowest point and drain the lawn into it. Just be careful to take into account the overflow - it might be ok to allow the pond to overflow onto adjacent ground - eg a bog garden, or other area you don't mind being wet, but it won't be so good if it overflows onto the neighbours patio... I agree with general sentiment of working with what you've got, there are a lot of nice herbaceous plants that like those conditions and people often have to create suitable conditions artificially to grow them. Or if you want something simpler to maintain, then you could plant dogwood in large groups.
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It wasn't directed at anyone in particular, educated opinions are all welcome, but now you mention it BnT seems like the kind of person that might know the answer. I was just wondering how common it actually is for bats to roost in trees and why do arbs so rarely come across them, particularly given the current interest in the subject.
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So... Why do you think sightings of bats by arbs working on trees is so rare? Either the bats aren't there, or they're abandoning ship when you're not looking - understandable if you're operating a chainsaw I guess?
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Christmas trees. They look great in the front room with lights on, but they should be burnt as soon as Christmas is finished, not planted in the garden and left to grow into big dark ugly lumps.
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Be careful if you use paypal - I think you get stuffed on the exchange rate.
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Probably a one or a combination of the following: 1. Water freezes in the leaf cells and bursts them, causing parts of the leaf to die. 2. The passage of water is blocked by frozen vessels, so the leafs dry out. 3. In windy conditions when the ground is frozen, the roots aren't able to draw up water and the leafs dehydrate.
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Nice pics David, that's an effective theme you're following!
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The tree in the first picture is an evergreen. (It's a Sequioa!)
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Sequioa with desiccated foliage. The brown leaves did throw me for a bit, thinking about the deciduous conifers but it's mid Feb and the tree is in leaf. I should think the desiccation is being caused by freezing winds. Sequioa - the cone is a definite
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Thanks Tony, I'm sure you've tried the burning test - Is that not a reliable, or does it only work when the resin is fresh? -
Small-bore piles are the normal way to go to avoid root damage. If the is solid an impermeable it needs to be elevated to allow gaseous exchange. Here is a case study by Jeremy Barrell. I'm not sure how old this is, or if it has been improved upon: http://www.aie.org.uk/download/BuildingsNearTrees.pdf Alternatively, a simple method might be to do a raised timber structure for the base - like you would construct decking.
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Have either of you tried taking spore prints - does it work with brackets? I read somewhere that the Phellinus has white or yellow spores.
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The flaking bark is probably one of the characteristics upon which it's botanical name is taken: Acer pseudoplatanus: Pseudo (False) Platanus (Plane). The peeling bark is similar to London Plane. Once they're old enough for the bark to start peeling IMO they often turn into worthy trees rather than weeds!
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If it's a new track then it would be classified as an engineering operation and it would need planning permission.
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I've never seen hedge plants staked for support. 1.5-1.8 feathers are normally ok unstaked, even small standards - it helps if the stem is bendy as they tend to bend rather than get blown over. They might look a bit wobbly, but so long as they don't blow over they're fine, they just adapt to the conditions rather than relying on the stake.
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To laugh at Dean's avatar . I guess someone must have already made a taking the p joke, so I won't bother.
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The Paving expert website is good for general construction advice, the link below goes to the section on terracing: Pavingexpert - AJ McCormack and Son - Hard Landscape Features - Terracing You've mentioned cost as being a major consideration, so I guess it will be a case of working out what materials you can source for next to nothing. Assuming you're an arb and you've also mentioned logs & trunks - these can be used vertically as per the timber post detail, or if you've got access to straight stems, they could be used horizontally as per the sleeper / telegraph pole detail. Oak elm or sweet chestnut will obviously last a lot longer than species that are less decay resistant. You can fill in any gaps with hazel poles driven in behind the main wall. Alternatively if you know any friendly builders, consider the dry wall. Or go out at night and harvest your local telegraph poles.
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It's not so much the age of any individual plant within the hedge, although some individuals can be extremely old, particularly coppice stools, what is more important in historic terms is how long there has been a hedge there, and even more important how old is the boundary upon which the hedge is located. Some boundaries relate to Roman, iron age or even prehistoric features. The hedge itself might be more recent, but it was often easier to reuse existing boundaries rather than move them and so some features associated with hedges date back thousands of years. Here's a couple from Oliver rackhams 'The History of the Countryside... If you take a look at this aerial picture, you will see Brettenham Road / Mitcherry Lane - it's a Roman Road that has been diverted at some point, but the hedge marks the course of the old road. hitcham suffolk - Google Maps This pattern of rectangular hedgerows in Essex is part of an Iron age or Roman field grid: burnham on crouch - Google Maps
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Where abouts is the hedge? Can you provide a link to an aerial picture? You can get some clues from the field pattern. Most existing mature field hedgerows are pre 20th Century. The ones planted in the 18th & 19th centuries were mostly a result of the parliamentary enclosure act and tend to be co-axial, meaning two of the boundaries are parallel, they also tend to be straight, thin and mostly hawthorn. Beyond that I'd struggle to write anything sensible. I'm normally just happy to accept it's old enough to be interesting if it pre-dates the 18th century - around here older hedges might have multi-stem ash or field maple growing from huge coppice stools, or big pollard oaks. There's a really old one not so far away on either side of a sunken drovers track has some great big multi-stem small leaf lime - these are an indicator of former ancient woodland. I'd recommend Oliver Rackham's book if you're interested in such things. It is really fascinating and provides a host of clues to look out for.
