Poda Girona

The hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) in Catalonia This year we have planted 11 European hornbeams in the streets of Olot, Catalonia. planting of hornbeam as street tree in Olot, Catalonia After an initially good start, we saw the newly planted trees suffer during the extremely hot and dry summer. The trees showed different signs of stress in midsummer (wilting of leafs and leaf loss), which are of course not uncommon for freshly planted trees. leafs are wilting and turning brown in june The young trees haven’t had time to develop a proper root system after they have been taken out of the field in the nursery. Which makes it difficult for them to absorb enough water to sustain the leafs in the tree crown. primary roots have been cut in nursery to create rootball But it was not until we had seen the hornbeam in its natural habitat in Eastern Europe forests before we started to ask ourselves the question: Is the hornbeam a suitable tree for the landscape in Catalonia? hornbeam in Poland In order to answer this question we made a small study of its natural habitat and its preferences and compared this parameters to the situation in Catalonia. Distribution The hornbeam is native to central, eastern, and southern Europe, including southern England. It can also be found in Western Asia (source Wikipedia). map of the distribution in Europe (wikipedia) The map shows us that the hornbeam is not native in Spain, although it is in some countries nearby such as France and Italy. However the (small orange triangle) in Catalonia means that the tree has been introduced and naturalized in this area. Natural habit The hornbeam prefers growing in a shade place with a moderate soil fertility and also moderate moisture. It likes growing in forests of oak and beech trees and is often found near the borders of the forests. It is also common in wet areas near rivers (source wikepedia, árboles de Europa, Margot y Roland Spohn) Most street trees have a lot of sun hours in Catalonia, due to the high sun elevation angle. During summer days there isn’t much shade for normal street trees. The soil fertility strongly varies in the different areas of Catalonia, however the fertility of the soil within a city is normally poor. Not only do the trees in cities have little soil available, but there also hardly isn’t any organic layer in the soil. The moisture level of the soil is low during summer. During hot periods in Catalonia the soil can even completely dry out. Conclusion All together the conditions in Catalonia don’t seem to be favourable for the hornbeam. Some parameters can be improved, such as the soil fertility and the humidity by adding fertilizers or installing a water system. It also possible to plant the hornbeam in the shade of a high building, bridge or other high trees. Before planting the hornbeam it is recommendable to improve the soil condition by adding organic material. After the planting it is important to provide enough water until the roots are developed. We are going to continue monitoring the development of the planted Hornbeams in Olot and next year we can hopefully dedicate an new post to them. What is your experience with the hornbeam? Please let us know by writing a comment. leafs of the hornbeam this blog is an adaption from: http://www.podagirona.com/en/the-hornbeam-carpinus-betulus-in-catalonia/

Hi! I am writing this post from Spain, which is also the location of this tree. I am curious about your opinions on how to prune this chestnut. I am asked to clean up some trees in a local park and this chestnut is one of them. The aim of the pruning is to improve it's structure, remove unwanted sprouts and dead branches. The tree has 3 primary trunks, which might have grown after lopping it many years ago. Furthermore the tree has a climber growing in it and part of the tops are dead and dried out. Thanks and best wishes from a cold but sunny Spain!

Sorry, my first reply was an inaccurate guess as I didn't have a sample , but you are correct; I rechecked and it's pairs of 5.

Hi, I've been a year in Australia in 2012 with a working holiday visa. There were plenty of jobs available in landscape companies. There are also a lot of unqualified travellers working for landscapers. Not all employers ask for a white card. If it's necessary you can easily do a training once you are overthere. You can look for jobs on: http://www.gumtree.com.au If you are well qualified, it's often enough to just leave a post and employers will contact you. good luck!

Thanx for your reply! If it's not necessary, I won't prune. But here the lower limbs start to outgrow the trunk and I don't know how the branch union will hold under extreme conditions. Occasionally there is a bit of snow in the winter here! Three years ago there we had 10 cm of snow, damaging over 50% of the trees.

Yes, the needles are in pairs of 2/3/4.

Hi, I would like some professional opinions on how to prune this tree! I am working in the north-east of spain, catalonia. This tree is in a garden in the city Olot. Never before did a see a pinus with this shape. The lower branches have all grown up and they fill the grown. I am worried that some of the lower branches will brake and damage the house. However removing the lower branches will leave a big pruning cuts and it will leave a thin crown. Furthermore I am not sure what specie it is. I'll be very happy to read your opinions!!

Hi, I'm asked to prune a Quercus Ilex and the tree seems to have a disease or some bug in the leafs. Does anybody recognize this? Ah, I live in spain and the tree is in the north of catalonia. It's a very common tree here, you can find it in every forrest in this area. Thanx!

Hi, Who can help me identify this tree? I looks like an oak, but I didn't see any acorns in the tree The tree is in a garden in the north east of spain. Thanks!!

Thanks for your reactions. I would not so easily choose for re-pollarding. My main fear would be that the repollarding leads to big pruning cuts near the pollard-head and eventually this will cause a lot of decay.

Had a error with the pfoto's, but here they are again!

Hi, I am an arborist from Spain. Arboriculture is not at a very high level in some parts of Spain. I regularly see trees with a very bad structure in the cities. I would like to know your opinions about the trees on the foto's below. And most importantly, how would you prune a tree with such a structure?! greetings, Koert