saintsman54

Have you spoken to them about it? As its National Trust woodland, they are likely to have a Woodland Management Plan and it should include the squirrel as a pest. They may be more keen to undertake control knowing there will be a combined effort?

Air rifle is a good option, you can set up bait stations with a simple feeder and hide to allow for accurate shooting and therefore humane death. If you don't want to be "hands-on", there is a trap coming out in the next few months called the Goodnature A18 which is self resetting, so all you have to do is replace the little co2 canister when it is empty, no need for checking every 24 hours http://collinsnets.co.uk/new-products/goodnature-a18-squirrel-trap?doing_wp_cron=1539696726.0229489803314208984375

There are government grants available for restocking of infected woodland - https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/countryside-stewardship-woodland-support#woodland-tree-health- The Woodland Trust do a subsidised tree pack for restocking hedgerow trees, which includes 45 trees, stakes and guards - https://shop.woodlandtrust.org.uk/targeting-tree-disease-pack

My understanding is that there are no restrictions on the movement of infected ash, so you should be fine selling it for firewood still. I don't think there is a risk of spreading it from the timber as the fungus sporulates from the leaf litter.

Nick Milner buys Birch regen for horse jumps, might be worth giving him a shout and see if its suitable for him. http://www.nickmilnersilviculture.co.uk/birch.html

http://www.kwrplanthire.co.uk/ Same as above, they KWR work all over

I'm tempted to get one too! https://www.paramo-clothing.com/en-gb/explore-range/product/?pk=5A046B7C-748C-4E93-8397-E2710BFB5631&attributes=5A01410B-7BF6-46CC-8A97-FFEA0A577F6E,FCBDB5D3-90B7-4766-871F-389AF483A8BE This wouldn't look out of place on a shoot day.

How tough is the Paramo fabric? does it cope with thorns?

Unfortunately the only truly waterproof kit isn't breathable at all. So easiest option seems to be to get rid of the wife and kids! ?

I've come to the conclusion that in day long, heavy rain, nothing will keep you completely dry (big holes in the top, bottom and sleeves of jackets). So in the winter, i now use Wool jackets (Swanndri - i have found the new stuff to be just as good) that are water resistant combined with merino wool base layer and wool/synthetic mid layer. These will keep you warm even when they eventually get wet, are hard wearing, comfortable, quiet fabric, and are not that expensive. In the summer i go for a barbour waxed gilet to keep the worst of the wet off. In Autumn and spring i go for a mixture of the both. For skiing, i use a Buffalo Alpine jacket which is awesome - warm, breathable and reasonably priced. I think it has been drilled in to us that getting wet is bad, but as long as you are warm whilst you are out and you have got a nice home to go back to at the end of the day, i don't see any harm in getting a bit wet.

If you have got the time, it would be good to do little and often regarding the thinning. If you can remove 5-10% of the softwood at each intervention, and do this every couple of years, that would be best. This will give the standing hardwoods the protection they are used to, and it will also mean that the light levels to the floor won't increase too dramatically (causing dense bramble growth). If you don't have the time, maybe you could do the softwood thin as standard, then coppice the lanky hardwoods, but single a stem from the regrowth, so that it matures as a maiden tree.

These guys (https://eastbros.co.uk/) supply Poplar to these guys (https://ottersurfboards.co.uk/journal/poplar-across-the-board) for their surfboards.

Thanks, thats great ?

Really struggling with this one, any ideas to what this is? Cheers Dan

They do 40-60cm, I am sure if you speak to them they could help you out.

how big do you want them?

Stem injection over 3-5 years for the Japanese knotweed with a Glyphosate. However you may need an approval for using a herbicide near a watercourse, depending where the knotweed is.

Cheviot trees do cell grown hawthorn, which will be better for planting at this time of year. Cell Grown Trees Price List - Cheviot Trees

That question is messing with my head on a Wednesday morning!

Thanks Agg, I will try and get some more accurate dimensions next time im on the estate. Its in Northamptonshire. Dan

Hello, I need some advice on how to tackle the stem in the (hopefully) attached images. The stem is in a parkland which is very sensitive to damage to grass or general untidiness. Therefore I am thinking that the choices would be to chainsaw mill it with a big bar, or mill it into lumps that could be moved onto a mobile bandsaw mill or not worth milling and log it up? what are your thoughts on this? Estimated dimensions are 1.2m diameter at big end and 4m long. Also how much would someone charge for undertaking this work? Thanks Dan.

Gerry has purchased hurley ash from me recently. job went well and he will be back for more, nice guy, no problems with money and worked well in conjunction with local contractors. Dan

no experience of injecting glyphosate, however I have seen the plastic plugs that are hammered into drilled holes. I have also had very good results from mulching areas and using high quality glyphosate to spray on any young regrowth.

A new round of Creation, Planning and Tree Health grants are out for 15/16 too, info here Countryside Stewardship (England)

This is where I got the 30th September date from: Current Certification and Approval Status of Warfarin Summary •Grey Squirrel Bait (warfarin) can continue to be used in the UK to control grey squirrels in forests until 30th September 2015. •The approval holders Killgerm are reconsidering whether it is commercially viable to re-register the active ingredient and product. Their position is likely to be clearer by mid-July. •FSC have granted a derogation for the use of warfarin on certain named FSC certified estates until 30th September 2015. •Warfarin can also continue to be used on estates that are not entered into certification until 30th September 2015, and currently, pending the final decision by the PEFC Council, it can also continue to be used on PEFC certified estates. •Depending on the decision of Killgerm to reregister warfarin or not, it may be possible to apply for temporary Emergency Authorisation to continue to use warfarin, and also to make a revised application for derogation to the FSC.