Paul in the woods

I'm in England, down in Devon. I've only just had my lines cleared and raised the problems with the surveyor but they will not do anything other than basic line clearance now. I spoke to the DNO guys yesterday when they were taking the tree off my lines and they said it's up to me. The problem I have is I have to follow felling laws whereas the power companies are exempt. The DNO guys have suggested the trees are cleared but I couldn't claim they are dangerous.

Thanks for the reply. I've PMed you an explanation to avoid side tracking the thread and appreciate your reply. However, my and other peoples experience down here as a small woodland owners is rather different than up there so a licence app would be a last resort.

Thanks, I must of missed that or forgotten about it. So, technically no but would you undertake tree work on that basis? Or to put the question differently, if someone was to pollard several acres of mature trees at 3m height what rule, if any, would you break?

Simple question, if you pollard trees over 1.3m in a woodland would the work be subject to a felling licence if over 5 cubic meters of wood was cut? Longer question. I have a row of beech and ash trees on the roadside edge of my woodland that were a hedge 100 years ago. They are right next to our electric and phone cables. A neighbouring property has removed a large amount of trees recently and, as expected, this has meant the wind is causing problems with our trees. One took our power and phone out yesterday. Ideally I'd fell the whole row and replant with something more suitable but this will produce well over 5 cube of wood. I would fill out a felling licence app but a previous one has literally been ignored as the local FC office doesn't care about small woodlands. As I would need the power turned off for a few houses then felling one or two trees a quarter isn't a great option. If I could get them all topped at 3m I could get the power off and someone in for a single job, then fell the 3m poles myself over the next few years. Does anyone know if the lopping would be subject to a felling licence?

Not honey fungus, they look more like one of the ink caps such as glistening inkcap, Coprinellus micaceus.

Well, Melomel. Do you have any other favourite mead, or honey and fruit/herb recipies as I've got loads of honey but not overly fond of mead. I've grown sea buckthorn from seed and the plants are doing very well in my woodland apart from never showing any signs of flowering, some must be 15' as well and over 10 years old.

I just replaced the seal on the flue blanking plate and it uses a gasket sold by the manufacturer to seal it or the flue. The gasket is some sort of glass fibre material so it might be worth checking the instructions for your stove.

Round here its the councils that fly tip. As for the original post surely it's a matter of what's burnt? Dry, seasoned wood or smokeless coal is fine but someone burning plastic, wet wood and god knows what perhaps not?

Looks like Hen of the Woods, Grifola frondosa.

Apologies if this is a stupid question, but can you not get your own fault code reader for the EFI engine or would they not show up the faults?

Which had a tendency to catch fire I gather. Easier to diagnose that a dodgy ECU but a bit more serious.

And any dried leaves will smell of toffee.

Have you picked off some of the white bits and looked to see if anything is inside? They might be wooly aphid.

I gather there are a couple of problems, at least things to be aware of, so worth reading through the licencing material. Don't trap or harm natives, don't release live invasive crays and don't use an illegal trap, i.e. one that may trap and kill other wildlife such as otters. (Same thing goes for catching sea crabs and lobsters, many traps sold are not legal and risk killing other wildlife).

Isn't this a problem with the council? Why did they grant planning so close to the tree and why wasn't the tree TPOed at the time of planning? You could door knock to see if anyone saw the people working on the tree but even though everyone will no doubt say they love trees they may not love that one.

Have the gills been pulled free when the piece of cap was torn off?

Depending on where you are in Devon the beavers will coppice it for you... When I've coppiced alder it produces multiple stems but after a couple of years it seems to thin itself and only a few dominant stems prevail. At least the deer don't like it. I like burning alder, and it dries quickly, but it also burns quickly so some don't like it as a firewood. Good for cooking over as it produces a flavoursome smoke.

This is worth a read: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/managing-ash-dieback-in-england Thats for England.

JKN will grow from the tiniest shoot so it would not make sense to sell it 'live'. If you forage it you should also take care, I'm not sure if there are even legal implications of bring some home for the pot in the uk. It does make a good wine I'm told, as you say like rhubarb. If you eat it you might wish to also be careful with its oxalic acid content. https://pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?LatinName=Polygonum+japonicum

Part of a staple diet. Actually, looks a bit like a Count Spuduler.

... and macaroon biscuits only use the whites.

Click the 'follow' icon at the top right of your first post. Looking at the tree damage, is it not just wind damage? Round here we've had a fair bit of wind damage recently.

Free. Timber wise, possibly hazel.

Wood cut, split and stacked before we get our usual month or so sunny, dry and windy spring weather.(Guaranteed if youve planted loads of bare root trees). We also tend to get a month of dry sunny weather in September and then I cover the logs. A woodshed is on the to do list.

Yep, although to speed things up I stack single rows of logs as I'm only seasoning my own wood. Don't forget if youre using a cheapie moisture meter chances are it'll be reading dry basis so you want it under 25%.