Big J

You see the moment you use the term "native Britons", you've made a fairly strong case for you being a bigot. I f*cking hate that term. Like the accident of the location of your birth gives you the supreme right to live in a place. A related point - why are people coming into the UK immigrants and people leaving the UK expats? Regardless, I don't care about this storm in a teacup that you seem to be intent on stirring up. If you can't see the evidence of Victorian colonialism as you wade through Himalayan Balsam, to climb a eucalyptus covered in Virginia creeper, perhaps you need to pay more attention. I reiterate - I like gardening, I don't care about this. You chose to start a thread with some pretty aggressive (and false) conclusions.

I honestly couldn't care less about this argument that you seem intent on having. It's something that James Wong feels is worth raising. He's not accusing anyone of being racist. That's the conclusion you've drawn. Give it a rest man. He's entitled to make a polite and inoffensive point without folk like you jumping down his throat accusing him of all manner of racial sh1t stirring.

Nope. I was reacting to your conclusions rather than James Wong's comments. If we fail to take heed of our past we run the risk of repeating the same mistakes. There is nothing racist about taking about race and its historical context. Immediately crying bloody murder the moment someone does raise the topic is the equal and opposite reaction to the perceived extreme leftist sentiment that you claim to see. It's exhausting. If you listened to Gardeners Question Time you wouldn't take his comments so seriously. He's an affable and pleasant chap.

They may be at one end of the cultural sensitivity spectrum, and perhaps that isn't so healthy. But you're certainly at the other extreme, and I'd say that's equally problematic. A happy medium isn't a bad thing. There is nothing wrong with highlighting historical issues relating to culture, race and imperialism, all of which inform our current situation and many of which don't bear up well under 21st century scrutiny. I'd say that by reacting to this interview with James Wong in the way that you have suggests you were looking for something to be offended about.

Having a conversation about race and racism are two completely different things. In much the same way that talking about sex doesn't mean you're talking about sexual abuse. Most countries have an uncomfortable past, but the UK is very unwilling to talk about it's more serious transgressions. I don't think that that is the case in this instance, hence my belief that the use of the word racism is misguided.

I think the title of this thread misconstrues James Wong's comments somewhat. He's possibly overthinking it, but he does raise valid points. I'd consider myself a keener gardener than most (listen to Gardener's question time often, on which James Wong is a regular panelist) and I'm honestly not bothered by the use (or misuse) of the term heritage. But he's still entitled to his opinion, and he didn't imply that it was racism.

There is a big price hike for 30cm plus, but we don't see much if anything of that size here. Most of what we deal with goes to Pontralis, where it's effectively a 15cm TDUB log. Low size and low quality. Large diameter douglas fir is making very good money here.

Not sure on norway, but sitka is around £105/t roadside in your neck of the woods at the moment. Norway is usually a bit less.

This site will be about 10-12 ponds richer by the time we're done. Average size 20ft x 15ft.

We're around £72-74/t down here at the moment for standard 3.7m material. More for bigger stuff.

It's hardly low impact but the guys are having some fun brash raking and digging ditches on our current site. The mud you see on the back of the machine is how far down he went. Where he's presently sat is just standard for working there. It was interesting watching him work - it was like the machine was sat on a massive trifle, such was the solidity of the ground. And we also dug the neighbouring woodland owner a pond as a thank you for putting up with the disruption. He was absolutely delighted. 90 minutes well spent.

Much more satisfying though was a first thinning we did just before in Cornwall. Ponsse Ergo harvester and me on the Vimek. Shout out to Matt Storrs for the site tidy up at the end. The landowners are delighted, have made a bit of money and it'll keep growing rapidly now (the photo with my hand on a log is one of the larger first lengths of Sitka, at 21 years old). The photo with the harvester is us taking the line of trees back from a powerline.

There is a mountain of brash and chipwood under the track too.

An interesting article. I skimmed over it, but will look more closely this weekend. It confirms what I was thinking, which is that the majority of damage is done by the forwarder, not the harvester. The Vimek really is an excellent first thinnings forwarder, working in conjunction with a conventional harvester. It's so small in the rack that tree damage is reduced, root compaction is almost eliminated and it's genuinely enjoyable to operate. I've been back in the Komatsu on full bog this week on a clearfell and haven't enjoyed it much. I've not been properly stuck (though I had to unload myself fully once to get out) but I had to pull the harvester out twice. These photos are actually from the main haul routes. I'm not concerned about the ground damage, as the whole site is getting majorly remodelled next week with excavators digging a network of drainage ditches and ponds throughout the site. Hoping to improve the biodiversity, but also the productivity. It's mostly eucalyptus nitens going back in.

Are you able to collect in Devon?

Poor ground yes, water logged - not so much. They appreciate well drained, lighter soil. Not exactly sure. It's the posting out that is the issue. How many were you thinking?

Is no one interested in planting up a bit of eucalyptus? It grows like stink and gives you a cracking woodfuel

I think he's in your neck of the woods, but speak to Nick at Elmsdown Forestry. He's had the same forwarder as me, and has been really helpful when I've chatted to him on the phone: https://www.facebook.com/ElmsdownForestry/

The problem: The answer:

Excellent 😊 Welcome to the forum and well done on your eradication work. The greys are the main reason I strongly resist putting any native broadleaves in on any of my planting sites.

By the look of her, £20 is clearly a lot more than she needs to be spending 😄

Hello all, In an effort to help a friend and work colleague sell some saplings, I thought I'd put the shout out here to see if anyone wanted any? It's been a really tough year for getting new planting projects underway due to delays with the RPA process for grant applications. Basically, Covid has royally put a spanner in the works on woodland creation. We've still got about 30 hectares of new euc. woodland going in, but it should have been much more. Consequently, my supplier has a surplus of euc. saplings, and I know that there has been a bit of interest here. I'm not sure how we'd sort delivery at this stage, but I wanted to gauge interest. The saplings will be £0.62 each ex works, plus VAT (for orders of 1000 or more) and the details are as follows: ECC20104 Eucalyptus coccifera 1400 EDP20107 E.dalrympleana 600 EDD20108 Eucalyptus delegatensis 200 EDT20110 Eucalyptus denticulata 12000 EDT20111 Eucalyptus glaucescens 25000 EBC20116 Eucalyptus globulus subsp.bicostata 2000 EJH20118 Eucalyptus johnstonii 500 ENT20119 Eucalyptus nitens 80000 EUN20127 Eucalyptus urnigera 7500 127800 There are two main constraints to planting eucalypts widely in UK:- Low temperature, -most importantly duration of cold temperatures (over two weeks) and out of season radiation frosts -generally not common within oceanic/low altitudinal sites Adequate soil moisture, water is the carbon building block for wood/cellulose -higher more water efficient and productive than other trees For planting Eucalypts, it is important for:- Care taken to avoid frost hollows and waterlogged sites Silvicultural expertise -matching origin species and provenance to site latitude, altitude and broad climatic character, using ESC Basic silviculture needs to be adhered to pre-plant site preparation species/provenance selection appropriate spacing post plant weeding Pre-plant preparation techniques clear ground for planting by spray/mechanical means mound to give a clear planting area ripping ground to minimise compaction ideally a bio mulch mat at the base of each tree wide treeguard and stake/cane to assist establishment and discourage rabbit browsing Species Details Eucalyptus dalrympleana (Mountain white gum) Cold tolerant to -14 degrees C Well-drained upland sites to 900m asl Excellent apical dominance characteristics Potentially one of the best suited species to UK conditions Tolerant of saline and salt spray conditions Quality timber, to 50m height Growth 30m3/ha/yr Eucalyptus nitens (Shining gum) Cold tolerant to around -10 degrees Req well drained sites, large juvenile leaves Req tree guards to maintain stability over initial establishment period To 60m height in natural environment Tolerant of saline and salt spray conditions Best production short rotation cold tolerant species Growth 40m3/ha/yr E.coccifera (Snow peppermint, Tasmanian snow gum) Cold tolerant, frost hardy to -18 degrees C Naturally grows in Tasmania on mountains and plateaux (to 1300m asl) Grows on well drained, rocky dolerite soils Cope with conditions of frost, snow and wind Tolerant of saline and salt spray conditions Juvenile leaves round and glaucous, suitable for foliage Successful establishment in Scotland Straight vigorous tree Up to 40m in height Plant on exposed site Eucalyptus gunnii (Cider gum) Cold tolerant, very frost hardy to -18 degrees C Naturally grows in poorly drained, basalt type soils Copes with conditions of frost, snow, wind and heavy mist Successful establishment in UK Up to 25m in height Plant in most exposed site Tolerant of saline and salt spray conditions Juvenile leaves round and glaucous, suitable for foliage Coppices well up to the age of 15, Eucalyptus urnigera(Urn gum) Cold tolerant, very frost hardy to -18o degrees C Naturally grows in Tasmania on mountains and plateaux (to 1000m asl) Grows on well drained, rocky dolerite soils Cope with conditions of frost, snow and wind Successful establishment in Scotland Juvenile leaves round and glaucous, suitable for foliage Up to 40m in height Plant in most exposed site Growth 24m3/ha/yr The guarding needs for the trees varies from site to site. Rabbits are the main issue. Anyway, would anyone like to get some euc. biomass plots going? The growth rate is really amazing, especially with the nitens. You do need to be all the way south or west for that species though.

It is a really good machine - the crane is superb, particularly. I'm back in the Komatsu at the moment on a very, very boggy site in Somerset. The Vimek wouldn't have a hope in here. It's a clearfell too, so no point really. I did have to fully offload myself first thing this morning to get out of a new soft spot, as I'd sunk about 110cm down at the back end (to about 10cm past the band tracks). Anyway, as regards your question about impact on thinnings, I would argue that generally, smaller machines are better. Yes, they make more passes, but they also travel far further away from the stems of the retained trees, reducing root compaction. My experience of working on a few bogs over the past two years is that it's absolute weight, rather than pounds per square inch that is the key factor. The Komatsu fully loaded is 28 tonnes. The Vimek is 9 tonnes. Ok, the Vimek has to make three passes when the Komatsu makes 1, but equate it to road haulage and the 4th power rule. This relates to axle weight, and how a doubling of axle weight is reckoned to cause 16 times the damage to the road surface. From my empirical observations, this is very much the case. We did a boggy site 18 months ago, and I took about 200t across a causeway (built up stone track) over a stream with a pipe going under the track. Over 100 runs with the Logbullet and the track was still fine for driving a van along. One single pass with the harvester (Komatus 931, about 18t) and the causeway was severely damaged and the pipe carrying the small stream crushed. In addition to the much reduced ground impact, you're also able to take substantially narrower racks with the smaller machines, which improves wind firmness. In conclusion, machines like the Vimek are slower and less productive, but I much prefer using them and the woodland is much better off in the end.