L W Woodlands

if any of you guys are interested theres an event coming up you would all probably enjoy.

 

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sounds interesting, and just up the road too, cheers

The word used here was ' Excessive ' . When i worked on the railways there was undoubtedly ' excessive ' removals and unnecessary wildlife murder . You cannot assume these people are being unreasonable . They may well be right and if it involves network rail i know who my money would be on .

interesting to hear that from someone who's been involved, as my first impression was that it was just a load of NIMBY's who think cutting any tree is bad.

Sounds like railways may differ from highways, I was involved with some motorway embankment clearance a while ago, they were very strict on us regarding ecological impact. had us raking all grass cuttings to benefit flora, making piles of cuttings for reptiles, leaving specified areas of scrub. We even had an ecologist measuring habitat piles to check they were the right size!

I've done loads of rail work, The infrastructure needs to keep going and be maintained, a few people moan about birds and the landscape etc BUT millions would moan about late trains if a tree fell on the track, or a driver missed a signal because of branches etc in his line of sight.

indeed presumably the ones moaning about tree cutting would not complain about sitting on a train delayed by leaves on the line...

yeah,ive done quite a bit of work on the railway,and probably know exactly the area they are talking about! no trees over 10 years old in that area,we used to get complaints in other areas,because when the area is cleared it uncovers all the rubbish that they have been throwing over the fence!

ha that sounds about right!

the wildflower key , francis rose isbn 0-7232-2419-6 is very good.

or find a local expert.. I tagged along with an ecologist looking at the meadows on the site I look after today, He pointed out many species I'd failed to notice/identify, he also described some of the specific relationships between certain plants and buterflies.

radio 4 ran a discussion this morn where a group of 'concerned residents' where accusing network rail of being heavy handed with their tree felling on embankments. "Clearing trees up to 30m from the line, ruining the landscape, destroying habitat" etc. The RSPB had a spokesman throwing further accusations of felling during the nesting season.

Anyone done any railways work?

Don't have any experience in this but isn't a railway embankment a bit like a ride/linear coppice coupe. I would of thought that the short rotation cutting they do is great for wildlife. Its not like their knocking down veteran trees surely?

saw this pic on a bookface group about the serengeti highway (look it up more wanton destruction of a large ecosystem) thought it sums up a lot of the comments on here:

A mate had to fell a large ash. Whilst clearing thick bramble and thorn away from the butt something stalled the saw, he found what he described as 'a very slutty pair of lacy knickers' wrapped around chain/sprocket! Turned out there was a stash of about 20 pairs of them under there..

seems to be some common themes here, shooting, bikes with and without engines, climbing, attempted guitaring for me. Anyone got anything else to add? where are the ballroom dancing arborists...!

Not sure that the national park bods would be too keen about introducing bamboo, best to keep to native/ naturalised spp IMO.

4th Jan, I have several hawthorn in a young hedge with emerging leaves and a couple more almost in full leaf. Just a result of the mild weather or some kind of stress response? I haven't seen it this early before.

i wonder how many on a/t are still using some of these old school methods

Indeed! as a young'un in forestry I recognise a few of the above, and have had the pleasure of working with some of the fearsome old machines (and people ) that are still out there!

great thread

Done, best of luck with the report.

Long term aim is to produce some good quality timber. The first patch I went through last yr I pruned a lot of trees, this time I am only doing the best of the them, as you say the poorer trees can grow on and will become firewood. I have found that most trees pruned last yr have responded well and have better form although some of the bigger cuts have produced large epicormic shoots.

Thanks coppicer, the national forest guide is one of the better ones i've seen.

Hi I have a large area of broadleaf plantation to prune, thought I would ask for your thoughts. Seems to be a lot of different, even conflicting advice out there re timing, what and how much to remove, age of tree, size of limbs.

I will be pruning oak ash beech about 5yr old, its the larger side branches and co/dominants that concern me and the trees response/effects of pruning and leaving large wounds in relation to stem thickness.

would be interested to hear your thoughts.