Paul in the woods

I always wonder what they smell like, fresh cherry wood smells different to alder and very different to something pine. Not sure how you describe the smell of fresh cherry, almost a hint of almonds?

My mistake, as you say you don't need a management plan. I think I was expected to do one as the grant for them was just introduced. If you just apply for a felling licence you don't need to pay for it but someone has to still complete it, measure up the trees in the woodland etc? Time is money and all that. I would say a management plan is worth doing. With a felling licence you are likely to have replant and management obligations for 10 years. As for the exemptions, worth studying the docs here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tree-felling-getting-permission you can fell 5 cube a quarter as long as no more than 2 is sold. There are other exemptions as well.

It may not be practical, or affordable, to do little and often. That's what annoys me with the FC not bothering to process my felling licence, yes if I do the work myself I can cope with the 5 cube a quarter limit but if I want to get someone in then they will want to cut far more than that. It's a shame they don't merge the limits into a yearly limit, that would he!p reduce paperwork. I'm also not keen on felling during nesting season. One thing I know some do, not sure of the legality with felling licence licence, but if trees need to be dismantled rather than felled then leave some of the stems for the next quarter.

I keep a decent log, just under knee height. Importantly something level and I use an old tyre on top so I can either split a large log without bits flying everywhere or so I can place several smaller logs and split them one after another.

That tree wouldn't put me off purchasing that house. After all, there's nothing stopping people planting similar trees down your boundary after you buy a house.

No, I've not seen any of our trees recover. In the woodland that's about 30 years old I mark up trees at this time of year I want to remove over winter. Last year I didn't get around to it but some of the half dead trees I marked (with string) are now completely dead. You may stand a chance of saving a tree that's only showing a few signs of you remove all neighbouring ash and rake up leaves etc but I've not got round to trying that yet.

I always go back to Sharpe's Express as a 1st early. Very reliable and tasty, seems disease free for us and we've been eating them since the start of June.

Here's a photo of a recent crop of shiitake grown on a small oak thining, just pop the log into a water butt for a day to shock the fungi into fruiting. Should get several harvests like that over a couple of years.

Have you looked at a router sled? If not have a search, might be suitable?

I'm reluctant to reply to these threads as I'm a woodland owner rather that a qualified arb or forestry worker. Having that in mind I'll say the following. What do the owners want? Do they just want to manage the woodland for habitat, or do they want an income or something like a supply of firewood? If you need to take out some trees what is the actual volume you'll need to remove? Can you work with the felling exemptions, not just dead trees being exempt but the 5 cubic meter per quarter exemption? (If you fell over two quarters over two days you can get 10 cubic meters). If you need a feeling licence then you'll need a management plan, are the owners likely to want to do one? I did my own and it was a useful thing for me to do, I can offer more advice on this if required. I will add that in my experience the local forestry officer wasn't at all interested in processing a felling license for a small woodland (10 acres) so I'd suggest trying to avoid the need for a licence if possible. One other thing, is there much die back? I'm my experience once a tree shows signs of die back it will not recover but I've got quite a few trees that aren't showing many signs of die back whilst others have some signs and others are dead.

Possibly best to post a direct question in the milling forum, try and include more photos of the stump etc. My first thoughts would be stones etc, but I assume people cope with that as the base of walnut can be sought after. A pressure washer would be useful.

Sounds sensible but I'd want that in writing as it seems somewhat open to interpretation. The advice still states: "Felling diseased ash requires a felling licence from the Forestry Commission, unless the trees are dead or pose a real and immediate danger. Restrictions such as tree preservation orders must also be respected. Your local authority will be able to provide guidance."

Ash.

I assume the poster is from the US, so not Fraxinus excelsior. I hope they are not in the UK if they've got emerald ash borer!

Indeed it is, and it doesn't end with planting you've got to look after the trees which means deer and squirrel control so I look forward to the Guardian encouraging that. If we genuinely don't have people to become professional tree planters perhaps some of the office bound Guardian readers could put down their iPads and volunteer a bit? Get them out of the home office and get them some proper exercise in the real world? That's from an ex office worked who's planted quite a few trees without any pay, grants etc.

This might be up your street. https://www.geoffdann.co.uk/agrocybe-rivulosa-is-edible-and-excellent/ I'd be interested is some photos of the cap before they've opened out.

One of the agrocybes looks possible, Agrocybe rivulosa and Agrocybe praecox both seem to grow on woodchip. I'm not familiar with either but it seems they can be confused with toxic fungi.

No. Do they have any smell, do they stain yellow, red or any other colour when bruised or cut? They could be some sort of agaricus but nothing I recognise and some agaricus are poisonous while others are not worth eating.

What do you want to know? I've just had a look and can see people selling chanterelle spawn but do not know anyone who has grown it. I would guess it is rather difficult to grow and could take years to fruit. Something like oyster mushrooms are much easier and you can buy spawn growing on grain to inoculate all sorts of things. I had a good crop on a new toilet roll. I would think inoculated dowels would be ideal for people here. As mentioned shiitake is easy, grown on oak. Oysters do well on beech. The logs need to be fresh from a living free so there's less competing fungi. Drill holes, insert dowels and seal with wax. Plenty of places selling what you need and offering advice. The logs do need somewhere damp for the mycelium to run and it could be over a year before you get anything. But a good sized log could fruit for a number of years.

Jules has got the answer but I'm curious with these threads. Have you moved into somewhere new or is this some sort of web homework?

I grow bocking 14 although I dont, have the heart to cut it back as the bubbles love it. It Also doesn't grow rampantly here but that's probably because we don't have rich soil. Your comments on bees is interesting, I know honey bees will seek out plants that provide pollen with higher protein constant but not really noticed a preference for colour. The season starts with yellow gorse and dandelions before going onto while and green (e.g. sycamore), white again with brambles and then purple with knapweed.

I've forgotten about them. A previous house I owned had chalky soil and to my surprise we had a decent crop of morels grow in the woodchip you get from the diy sheds. I only tried the odd one as I think a few varieties grew and not all are edible. Worth a try if you can't get the spawn but I think they prefer an alkaline soil?

One fungi I'd like to try and something I think would be ideal for anyone with large amounts of woodchip is Wine Caps, Stropharia rugoso.

Chanterelles are mycorrhizal so you'll not be able to grow them on logs. I've tried a few wood rotting fungi and found shiitake dowels inserted into fresh oak logs to be the easiest and most productive. There is a wide range of fungi to choose from but as it can take a year or two before fruiting I'd suggest starting off with an easy one. Also something recognisable as you can get other fungi appearing.

We get blight every year but it hits the tops of the leaves first, spores picked up by the rain drops. The main worry with clippings is slugs, one thing chickens do help with on a veg plot.