Farmer Tom

We're told to cut firewood 'in the Winter, when the sap's down'. I cut a couple of sycamore last weekend and the sap was p155ing out of them. Was I too early? too late?

Convert your anglegrinder to a chainsaw <facepalm>

Can't be bronze. It hasn't been nicked.

Phew... I'm an IT contractor by the way, though I process and burn my own firewood ( and I buy in). Well, it gave me a bit of a head's start. Material which is already a bit haggard, rootbound, ill-treated, has had a hard time and has survived (Oh, and was cheap). Usually this was mature stock which had grown slowly and so looked fairly like a mature tree ( stunted, lots of dense early branch forking). If I wanted a passable result in a short time I'd start with something like Juniperus communis. Sadly, I don't have the time for either bonsai or beekeeping these days......

Hope that's not because of what I said. I only meant Bonsai from seed would take a very long time. I used to create Bonsai starting with neglected plants from the back of a garden centre, or naturally deformed or sheep-grazed hedging. I don't get the time for Bonsai these days... Anyway, this is the general chat section and nobody's mentioned cats yet

I have one of those which I got from a hotel garden in N. London in 1990. It looks just the same today as the day I picked it up. No idea how to get it to open. Growing bonsai from seed? Hope you're a kid......Good luck:thumbup1:

Here are a couple of pics of some ivy I have growing up a stone pillar. The top has mainly gone into arborial mode, but these branches have both leaf types. ..couldn't find any with prickles, maybe the giraffes have had them...

Isn't this just arborial ivy? Ivy has two leaf types, bit like holly. In the case of ivy the leaves are palmate at the bottom and lanceolate once they reach a certain height up the host where it flowers. I think it helps to reduce the effect of wind. Holly has a similar leaf change where all the prickles are at the bottom of the tree, presumably because they haven't evolved with Giraffe.

I left two Drummondii in pots in my yard, they rooted down through the tarmac and grew to about twenty feet, started disturbing drains. The canopy promoted moss growth in the yard, so I decided to take them out. I 'reduced' them down to two feet and they came back the following year, one variegated, one reverted. This year, both totally reverted. Coming right out this winter. Burn well though....

I'd have said Ash.

And that one on the ground..... would be...the late Ash....

Ah, so they start growing before they come into leaf. I hadn't thought of that. That would explain it. Thanks.

Uh, no.

B@ugger, wrong way round.

It's always amazed me how fast growing they are, considering they spend so long leafless. Beech, Aesculus and Sycamore ahead here, followed by Oak and then Ash. Ash is flowering, but no leaves. Actually I saw one today, thought "sh1t that's dead, ... no wait...." I read somewhere that Ash opens its leaves dependent upon temperature and Oak dependent upon day length. That would make Oak open its leaves roughly the same time each year.