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It is, but it can be a bit strong for a seedling, depending on what you've been consuming! Also helps to keep the deer off. Alec

David, under the general heading of the thread I was interested in whether you had any awareness of the use of green manures for root zone amelioration? It's a growing subject of interest (if you'll forgive the pun) in arable agriculture - various voices are beginning to suggest that simply churning the top nine inches of soil over each year by ploughing may not be the best, or cheapest option and building up the soil structure is a better move. There is a move towards specific planting to do this, depending on the aim, using either catch-cropping between main crops and mown/harrowed off, or as an under-planting. This includes a range of different species, with different functions such as nitrogen fixing, smothering out invasive species or sowing deep rooting species to break up soil compaction. Compared with an airspade or a dose of fertilizer it is obviously very slow, and you would need the right site for it where the visual impact was acceptable for the species selected, although some nitrogen fixers such as red or white clover also make a good cover planting which may be generally aesthetically acceptable. The main advantages would seem to be that it is non-invasive, very quick and cheap (things I am looking at are around £30-60/hectare which would do a lot of drip zones!). Has it been tried, and if so any known results? Alec

Hi Owain, First point - the mill size is the length of the side rails, rather than the maximum capacity of the mill. The throat is 2" less than the maximum length. The mill clamps to the bar at both ends and you have to fit it inside the nose (unless you fit spacers over the nose sprocket, which is not recommended practice due to reduced clamping area, although it has been seen to work successfully). Even if you take the dogs off, the widest timber you can get through the throat of the mill on a 36" bar is around 30". To get the full capacity out of a 36" mill (34") you need a 42" bar. You can get a 32" bar in a D009 mount but you may well need to bring it in from somewhere outside the UK (try ebay for a start). The saw should cope OK - it won't be the quickest but if you keep the chain absolutely even it will be OK. I would go for Granberg chain and the grinder - the chain takes a bit less power out of the saw than standard chain, which helps when you haven't got the .cc to play with, and the grinder will keep the teeth absolutely identical in length and angle which makes an enormous difference. If you also have a 24" bar, I would buy a ripping chain to go with that too as it will be very efficient (and quick) for up to 18" width. I would then tend to break down larger logs by quartering first, then quartersawing, as it gives better quality timber and means you only need to make one wide cut per log. Alec

Ah, I'd missed that particular change - I always knew it as P.pissardi. I wish botanists would just make up their minds though (been ploughing through the elms lately which make the challenge of keeping up with prunus pale into insignificance ) Alec

Cherry plum is myrobalan. Was the tree planted in the raised bed, or was the bed raised over the tree roots? The latter may account for it. Alec

I would have had that down as prunus pissardi rather than a myrobalan? Either way, it's not a cherry. Regardless, yes you could kill a tree but it isn't easy without clearly visible signs, using things which the average person without a licence could get their hands on. What is the ground underneath like - if it's grass, how is it doing? Alec

1948 Teles 2-man. Most of the saws I actually use are 1960s/70s (milling) or 1990s. My most modern saw is a 2003 026. Alec

I should add that I was given the Allen Scythe in question by Geoff, with full warning of what it would do, and I do get a certain masochistic pleasure out of using it It is also ultra-reliable, will tolerate serious abuse and is always there as back-up. It's a 2-stroke and runs very nicely on Aspen. At least on the model I have the clutch is pulled up to engage - I believe there is a brilliantly designed one with a fail-dangerous feature, where if the clutch lever drops down out of the gate it sets off on its own! Alec

Bit of a trek, but if you're heading North from there I can take anything arising at the northern edge of Essex (CB9). Alec

One thing from experience - don't buy an Allen Scythe unless you are a masochistic dwarf powerlifter. They are old but they work fantastically well. They are really simple to fix and you can still get all the parts. They are cheap. But - they have a deathwish, they head for the nearest pond/barbed wire fence/small child and they are not designed for people of average height. I am of slightly above average height and use one once or twice a year to cut some of ours - it has gone straight through 7' thistles, and nettles which are chest high without missing a beat. The only thing which stops it is when it sucks a whole nettle down the air intake! It has even been flooded once, dried out and still runs, but cutting about 2/3 of an acre takes me three goes of about 20mins each and each time I come in pouring with sweat and collapse on the floor with back pain, having wrestled and fought it all the way. I would also avoid Monro-tillers - the chatter bar cutter (scythe bar) is driven off an eccentric and the drive arm is a weakpoint - we broke 3 before we gave up. Alec

Here it is. Tape is around it as a couple of dead branches snapped and are hung up in there - I think there is discussion underway with regard to removing some of the branches which are shutting down before the work gets done. Alec

Hi Graham, The tree in my avatar is also an elm - there is a row of three of this form which have survived, despite the ones on the opposite side of the road regularly burning up with elm disease when they hit 15ft. To propagate elm trees there are three ways: The easiest is to trace suckers back to the roots (often very easy as they sucker from big roots near the trunk). Suckers should have the beginnings of a root system already in place. Nick them off when dormant, plant up outside and keep sufficiently watered while the root system develops. Second approach is hardwood cuttings taken in late Jan/early Feb. Plant in a 50 : 50 peat : perlite or vermiculite : perlite mix and keep it somewhere cold, such as the north face of a building, but with a soil heating mat or cable to keep the base at 18degC. This develops roots before the top. Most difficult is softwood cuttings in late May, before the shoots have fully grown for the year. Cut at a leaf joint from a good, stiff, upward or sideward (but not downward) facing bit, then nick off the lower leaves completely, cut the upper leaves in half but leave the last one full. You then need to put them in a similar vermiculite : perlite mix in a dewpoint cabinet. Take rate is very low, but rooting is very quick if they do take. There is a tentative plan hatching to run a proper disease resistance trial on surviving trees. This is what the Spanish did, and managed to identify a handful of truly resistant trees which they are now in the final stages of testing on multiple sites before considering going forward for mass propagation. If this goes anywhere for the UK, it would be very interesting to include your tree. It would need half a dozen or so plants to do it. If the tree has suitable small suckers (definitively from this tree) or some suitable shoots in Jan when they could safely be posted, I would be very interested in some to take forward for this. Alec

That's the one - it is looking way better this year. I'll take a picture tomorrow but the canopy is now full and the tree looks good. We have a new facilities manager who is more likely to take up some of your comment. Alec

Thanks David & Tony, I will mention it to the relevant people then at some point out of courtesy, but try to avoid panicking them into an excessive response. Cheers Alec

I have some feedback from the person who runs resistantelms.co.uk - he previously ran the Kentish Elm Conservation Programme which carried out maintenance to preserve surviving trees. Comments were as follows (my comments are in brackets): There is a reasonable chance that surviving trees show some resistance, or are unattractive to beetles - it isn't just luck. If it's disease resistance then great, they are likely to survive attack anyway, but resistance is not all or nothing - the more beetles that go for a tree at once, the higher the dose of disease and the more chance the tree will die, so the aim is to minimise the attack. Beetles are active from April to September (the trees also bleed) so prune only when the tree is fully dormant. The beetles are attracted by the smell of the cut surfaces, so keeping the cuts to a minimum is a good idea. Also, whatever you do, burn, don't chip - the chippings will attract in every beetle for miles around! Similarly, remove any cut timber from site, otherwise the beetles which hatch out will just fly back up into the tree (I suppose you could chip, be scrupulously careful about removing every bit of chipping from site and make sure they are buried in the chip pile by the time spring comes around). The beetles also prefer vigorous young growth. This means that when pruning it is best to discourage epicormic growth from breaking, so a crown thin and gently phased work would be better than going in hard. There is some thought that beetles don't like short trees (if this is the case then a full on re-pollard may not be a bad thing). Charlie - interesting information on the single tree. There is a surviving large elm at Acton's Farm, Sawbridgeworth, which shows the same weeping habit. It is reckoned to be Ulmus x hollandica, but there is a lot of genetic diversity in this type and it is possible that they are either directly related or coincidentally resistant. Alec

Yes David, it's just down from the enormous plane, right next to the equivalent building at the other end. Any thoughts on a prognosis, being as our place is a bit digital (ie leave alone/fell)? Alec

Whereabouts is it? Alec

Thought I would add this one - the FB is quite hard, to the point where you get a solid sound if you rap the top with your knuckles. There is another one, slightly smaller but looks the same, on the other side. Tree is pushing 4' DBH. Alec

To run it needs fuel, a spark and compression, all at the same time in the cylinder. Since you have put fresh fuel in I would take the plug out, see if it's wet, wipe it clean, check the gap and check it sparks against the side of the head while pulling it over. Assuming there is a good spark, I would then put the plug back in and pull it over a few times (full choke), then take it back out and see if it is wet. It could just be that there is some old fuel or water somewhere in the line which needs clearing through before it will run. Alec

How are you going about trying to get a mortgage? The problem with talking to individual lenders (e.g. your bank) is that they each have a risk profile. Many banks already have too much high risk (which is what self employed is seen to be) so it can be difficult to get accepted, let alone get a decent rate. The whole market brokers are generally best at knowing who is looking to lend to people in a particular bracket. They charge, but only if the mortgage goes through. London and Country, and John Charcol are the brokers which usually get recommended (see MoneySavingExpert). We went with John Charcol when we remortgaged about 3yrs ago - I am employed but our house is timber framed, 500yrs old, Grade II listed and thatched so fairly specialist and they still saved us around £2.5k a year. You get assigned an advisor, who you deal with personally and actually answers their phone, so it was fairly painless. Alec

Do it when dormant. What to cut depends on what you want to achieve. Assuming you are looking for productivity from the tree, don't go in too hard. Think of a permanent framework of main branches with smaller fruiting branches growing off them. Keep plenty of light and air going through the tree and take out dead, diseased, crossing and larger bits that grow towards the centre rather than away from it. If you put up some pics it should get more comment. Alec

I'm not local, but it would help to know how large would you like (length x width x thickness ranges) and any preference on species? Alec

I think you could do it, but I don't think it would be worth it. You would need a jig that followed the right profile and then bang wedges in hard at the back end as you go, to open up the cut so that it will follow the curve. You would also probably not dare go too close to the line so would end up with carving off to do anyway. I think I would cut the sides off first, then mill the bottom face right through, then flip it over and mill the top face up to where you want the curve to start and withdraw the mill. You could then mark up on the sides the profile you want to follow, run a series of vertical cuts down every couple of inches and use a mallet and a big chisel to split out the lumps, then smooth off. Actually, I would do it with an adze, but that relies on having one and being reasonably familiar with it. With regard to timber, I would use poplar as it is light and surprisingly strong with long grain fibres (it is also cheap and readily available!) I wouldn't use lime or grand fir as they are short grain and rather brittle. Alec

They are all small enough to stand a good chance of success. The main issue will be a tap root if they are self-seeded - when trees are grown in pots the tap root tends to get disrupted but when self-seeded it can go down a surprisingly long way and you want as much of it as you can possibly get, which means digging a deep hole. Best option is to wait until late autumn, as the leaves are yellowing on the deciduous ones, and then dig them right out, keep the roots damp by wrapping in damp paper and a plastic bag if you have to do more than just move them across the garden. If you are just moving them across the garden, dig the holes to receive them first. Back-fill but don't tread the soil down hard, then water well to settle the roots, even if it is raining! If you have to move them sooner, the above is still your best bet but you stand less chance of success. Do it on a cool, rainy day, as quickly as possible and be prepared to water regularly until autumn. The oak and the horse chestnut will be virtually only a vertical root, so you won't need to go out very far from the stem (8" or so maximum). The holly will be bigger, so I would start a foot out, dig round to a spit deep, then start digging under the rootball and move as much of it as you can with it, by wrapping a sack round it. Alec

If you post where in the country you are, it is likely that there will be someone on here local to you who may be able to help. Alec