10 Bears

Propose a manual operation first - eg handhook/strimmer, which will give the immediate effect she wants ie reduced weeds, then when the bells/daffs have receded, go back to do a foliar spray of glyphosate at 50:1. In other words, she cant sensibly get what she's asking for. There will be losses of her flowers otherwise as even weedwiping can produce runoff.

I was in the Czech republic a few years back in a timber yard. They are big into woodfuel/charcoal over there and these images show how its created in the yard. The first yard picture shows lines of the charcoal burners and the size of charcoal turned out is on the ground in front of the 3 men. The second picture - the 2 men shutting the door (I just missed photographing the stack inside as they were too quick) should have shown what I saw ie that it was just rammed to the rafters and there was no double lining etc to the burner as you would get in a purpose made mobile one over here. So my thoughts are - why not just commission someone to make a burner with a chimney/air inlet control out of something like oil drums or similar. It seems to be the Czech approach and it does them good enough... Just found a link to the sort of thing I was thinking.... Charcoal-Making Stove - Do It Yourself - MOTHER EARTH NEWS Or there is the Earth burn approach - pretty mobile! http://www.geoarch.co.uk/experimental/charcoal.html

A new hardback copy just bought from Amazon at just over £17 - pretty reasonable...

Excellent - thanks for the info Gaz...

Well, it looks like I will have to go with the majority decision on that one then... Acer it is! I've looked through 3 books and various on-line resources trying to bottom that one out and I cant find a satisfactory answer in those resources. There just doesn't seem to be a like for like image. Just while Im on this train of thought - does anyone know of any winter bud ID keys that can be accessed readily? They would certainly help if this crops up again...

Right OK, thanks Kev. Ill take another look, but my feeling is still its a Prunus as it has lateral, and quite long, lenticels. I think you can see them a bit better in this image, which also shows the buds a little more in focus. What do you think?

Fair enough comment about the photos. I did take other images over my hand for exactly that reason - but they didn't come out well either so I didn't post them. I was doing a favour for someone (a 'quick' survey they said, it was over 200 trees that I had to drive 2 hours to see!) and so I rushed a bit taking the images. I'm pleased with some of the answers thanks (palm tree?!?!), as I had on my list: 1. Acer platanoides 2. Prunus sp. 3. ??? - someone ID'd this as Robina which is a good shout. It made me realise that I have only ever seen Robina in adult form, not as a wee one... 4. Tilia sp. - I should have been more clear on this, I knew it was Lime, but was trying to work out if it was small or large leaved. An old forester told me about 15 years ago how to do this from winter buds, but I've forgotten! 5. Ulmus sp. So, your answers are pretty much in line with mine. I really appreciate the input though fella's, so thanks very much! Its funny how you can let doubt creep in when you are rushing!

Tree Five

Tree Four

Tree Three

Tree Two

I have managed to convince myself that I have not ID'd some trees correctly. Because these are all in winter bud, I am now in two minds about the ID of all of them! I would really appreciate some views on the following: Tree One

You know - that's a fair point. In the past when I was working only forestry in the conifers/on the hills, I was burning standing dead (so standing seasoned) sitka/larch. It got the flue red hot and actually had the same comments from the sweep then ie clean as a whistle. I'm closer to the coast now, and where I am there are just a lot more hardwoods for me to get my hands on. I'm not a timber-snob, Ill burn whatever when its in the right condition, and I've never had any problems. Softies burn a *lot* quicker though for obvious reasons, and I dont have as much storage space at my current house, so firewood with higher calorific content ie hardwood, works better on that level too. I believe not burning any fossil fuels is a big part of the build up solution in any case as there will be less particulates to deposit in the chimney. That FC document was interesting, as it explained the problems with stocking up/low burning. Ive done that too - but only on a hot bed of embers...

This is purely anecdotal, but my chimney sweep says that in his experience, if you leave the fire on tick-over during the night, you will be more likely to get tarring/blockages. Now, I do burn softwood when I just happen to get it in which is probably only 10% of the time, I never burn any fossil fuels, and I do use tick over - but not every night. What I do burn mostly is hardwoods, and the sweep says that he will only come back every other year as my flue is always clear - he gets very little out when he sweeps. So, there *could* be something to the idea that less softwood means less build up - which is the null hypothesis to the idea that more softwood causes build up. As I said - purely anecdotal, but that's my experience of it!

You're spot on - Sugar is added to everything nowadays and its an absolute crime! Thats why I added a link to this site a while back as it has a good list, to give you chaps an idea of the different names of sugar that is added pretty much everywhere nowadays. You have to be quite mindful... On another note - I saw Steve that you were giving the 12 minute HIIT training a go - Hows it working out for you?

Following the changes in 2012, the communities update info is available here, but the full chapter and verse is here I also went to one of the AA roadshows, and thought that this document was a good review of the changes. I can only assume that your TO is applying the change to the dying clause in an unusual way ie there is no exemption any more - so he wants you to evidence the idea that due to the sum total of the condition that you find the tree in, the catastrophic failure conclusion that you came to is the one most likely to happen. Without seeing pictures, its hard to comment further, but I would also assume that there is a little bit of jobsworthyness coming in to play...

Quality result - I bet you didn't realise there was that much to spare! I like to use Accumeasure BF calipers to clock whether or not the weight loss is due to subcutaneous fat or muscle loss. In fact Steve, there is a picture of what you too can look like using them at the bottom left of this page - the cheesy smile is compulsory...

Hello John the best website in my opinion is Mark's Daily Apple lots of very good, detailed information and some free pdfs to get you started Mark Sission who runs the site is a known Paleo expert and also has a book called The Primal Blueprint which is worth a read.

To echo some of the points above, its just a matter of doing the job for a while. If you are unfit, you will ache and find it hard at first, but you will adapt over time and get much fitter . Just don't think because you have grafted a bit each day you will be able to eat 6000 calories of sugar a day and get fitter - it just wont happen. See the Paleo Diet thread if you need a bit of inspiration on the food front. Just work as hard as you can and don't hurt yourself and you will get fitter. Ultimately, you will end up as fit as you need to be so just crack on!

Well, perhaps in the 1980's when this was considered good practice, but not now knowledge has moved on. Please read this very straightforward piece that provides a clear overview or you could read this piece written by Shigo - the second to last paragraph on P108 says it all I appreciate that time moves on from where your original knowledge came from, but in fact this is actually quite well known. I note from your avatar that you are from the US, and although I have not worked there personally, I have friends who have and they tell me that painting wounds is still fairly common practice, but a little bit of research will inform you that actually its not good practice at all. If you PM me I will be happy to direct you to more scientific resources that I cannot openly post here...

No not really. The green belt is there to prevent development ie urban sprawl (although recently this has not been very affective). Commonly forestry/trees are a specific feature of the GB area, but they are not afforded any additional protection as I understand it. What you should consider when working in these areas, particularly clearance are: Felling licence EIA SSSI BAP/LBAP ASNW/PAWS etc. There are more of course, but it will depend on the circumstances of the area. I suggest you take a look at both Magic and Advanced LIS (use advanced as there are more options) to get a better idea of what is significant in the area and what you will have to consider during any operations. If you get stuck give me a shout and Ill try to help further...

At least the radioactive Birch should be a better source of heat energy than the non-radioactive type. So its win-win obviously!

Hello James, I wouldn't recommend any of your suggestions I'm afraid. You would be best to just monitor it over time to see if there are any pathogen ingress that would lead to future structural compromise e.g. fungal infection etc. All structures have a safety factor i.e. an amount of stress they can withstand before failure - including trees, it is just that your tree was compromised beyond its limit in an unusual event. Treating the wound area with paints/treatments actually causes the opposite effect than the one you want. It used to be common practice to paint wounds, until knowledge informs us what is going on. The paint used to keep fungi at bay, can actually create an ideal zone for fungal proliferation just immediately under the surface ie dark, moist, food source etc., so painting can give the fungi just the advantage it needs to become established. You don't want to flush cut - again another thing that was practised but is now frowned upon as this will cause additional damage to the vascular system in the stem wood, the plumbing between the roots and the crown. Damage this by flush cutting the stem and you will prolong any healing the wound can do. A build up of water is actually no problem at all, as the environment will be anaerobic i.e. without air, so pathogens will not be able to establish there. The other large limb you refer to has been adapted over time to be in its location. The tree has put in additional supporting structures to cope with the weight of the branch. Yes there is the possibility that these supports are now damaged (cant tell from the pictures though), but the likelihood is that during the healing process, more adaptation will take place and the branches supported further to cope with the new crown shape. Loss of another branch and resultant loss of more photosynthetic area will increase the amount of time needed for recovery. You could consider getting an expert in to install a bracing system like Cobra for instance - but this attracts installation and maintenance costs. What to do in my opinion? Tidy up the wind snap and just monitor for deterioration over time - of course seek the occasional professional expert opinion ie survey. There will be healing and most likely you will receive the benefit of additional wildlife once some wood boring insects get in there - which is actually a positive! I hope all this is of use to you. If you let us all know where you are in the country, Im sure someone will be able to offer whatever services you may require. Best wishes...

Now that's the top answer for the thread!

Here you go Taupo - one better. You can watch the program in full here Its an hour long, but is interesting, particularly if you look at it objectively and try to recognise the limitations of their 'experiment'. Good conclusion though, that reinforces the idea that Paleo is the answer....