spandit
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Everything posted by spandit
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I planted some common osier next to some yellow willow we'd salvaged from a weaving class. A couple of years down the line and I notice that some of the new growth on the osier stumps is bright yellow - is this what hybridisation entails or is it just coincidence? The leaves look similar anyway so presumably they're closely related
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Even with this sort of matting, on very wet ground, you're still going to see tyre tracks. Here I have a reinforced track leading to the top field - it's full of hardcore with a thin layer of soil over the top so you can't see it as the grass has grown through. Tends to look a bit muddy if I drive over it in winter but doesn't make deep ruts
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I've stopped making my own charcoal because it's easier to just light the BBQ with wood a bit earlier. Had mine blazing away like a rocket a few weeks ago and managed to melt it (cast aluminium Nipoori). I generally use willow cuttings that I harvest every year. They season quite quickly and burn splendidly.
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Growing my own bareroot trees
spandit replied to spandit's topic in Forestry and Woodland management
Sweet chestnuts. I prepped them by putting them on some soil and chucking some leaf litter on top - that's what would happen in nature. Mine have the advantage that being off the forest floor, they're less susceptible to squirrel/rat predation and I can monitor the watering. I've seen a few coming up on my land where I've thrown chestnuts gathered from a local wood too. -
Growing my own bareroot trees
spandit replied to spandit's topic in Forestry and Woodland management
My sycamore hasn't done too well and I have thousands of oak seedlings, many with mildew. Not worried if they survive or not - the fittest should make it! My seed grown chestnuts are still pretty tiny. They're out in the wild though and just about holding their own against the grass. -
Growing my own bareroot trees
spandit replied to spandit's topic in Forestry and Woodland management
Then that is what I shall do! Hopefully sourced some free trees anyway (and will be propagating my own willow and poplar anyway) -
Growing my own bareroot trees
spandit replied to spandit's topic in Forestry and Woodland management
What soil should I use for starting the plants off? Compost doesn't seem dense enough to hold the moisture - should I just collect stuff from molehills and mix in a bit of grit? What about moisture granules? Plan is to buy some cheap bareroot trees and grow them for a bit in the pots so when I actually plant them out, they'll be big enough to stand up against the weeds a bit better. I am a bit worried about watering them but hopefully we'll get a bit of rain this year! -
Might get some bow staves out of it - could make a good little earning from it!
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But if the tree is already leaning, won't it always have a bend in it or do you think it will be pliable enough to straighten up?
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When I planted my woodland, I put in a lot of alder as its preference for wet ground, quick growth and suitability for coppicing made it an ideal choice. However, although the the growth in 3 years has been rapacious (noticed today for the first time that the tubes have started splitting in places) some of them have fallen over as the big leaves and large canopy make an ideal sail and it gets quite windy here at times: What I'm thinking is that I could cut these ones off at the base and replace the tube/stake to promote more upright growth - they're pretty healthy so guessing the roots are doing OK but are they likely to survive such an extreme prune? Won't be doing it until the winter, in case you were wondering... Wasn't expecting to be cutting my own firewood quite so soon!
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Will This Dodge Get Bested by a Land Rover? - Big Truck Fan Would be interested to see how the Ox would fair in a similar contest.
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Hopefully using a vehicle that stands a chance of getting here intact
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No, these actually look quite well made :-)
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Yep! Those are they!
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Cones are completely unlike the thuja plicata ones I can see after a brief image search. Wish I'd taken a better picture now. From memory they look just like the lawsons cypress cones (small ~8mm green balls)
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Growing my own bareroot trees
spandit replied to spandit's topic in Forestry and Woodland management
Could bag the willow up in tights or just produce the Willow Water in bottles and add it -
Cones look like lawsons cypress from memory - small green spheres
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Lawsons cypress possibly. I thought swamp cypress but no obvious knees and it was nowhere near water
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The last sentence on this review is interesting. I'd certainly consider one for farm use although I'd want to see it in deep sticky mud first
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Following on from this thread we went to Arundel Castle in West Sussex today. In the grounds was a clump of what looked like leylandii What you can't see in this picture are the roots that are forming large arches and making weird shapes but inside would have been a magical place for a den or wedding ceremony
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Growing my own bareroot trees
spandit replied to spandit's topic in Forestry and Woodland management
I've ordered a cheap system to see if it has potential. Plan is to rig it up to a water butt and shove a load of willow cuttings in the water to make it potent! -
Growing my own bareroot trees
spandit replied to spandit's topic in Forestry and Woodland management
Well, I've ordered 20x1l and 10x3l so will give it a go, although might have to wait until next year. Anyone tried those micro-irrigation systems? -
Yes! Passed MOT with no advisories. Only issue I've had is a dodgy connection in the trailer socket which stopped the rear fog light from working - easy fix. Have carried 2 sets of pigs and towed one set to the abattoir in a horsebox, have picked up lots of logs and towed a heavy trailer 300 miles without incident. I need to spray a bit of Waxoyl underneath as there's some light rust appearing on the rear body underside and the wiring to the hard top isn't great - need to fit a proper waterproof connector as the interior light doesn't work due to a poor earth.
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Ah, it was a different strawberry tree, cornus kousa, I've planted one in my orchard but it's too young to fruit. They were very sweet
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Beautiful place - went there the first time about 2 weeks ago. Ate a fruit from the Chinese dogwood tree too...
