Offmeister
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Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. There is lots to think about and consider before we proceed. Might post an update in the future. Would like to draw a line under this now though as it looks as though we might go off topic if we aren't careful. I get the sense that there are a few questions about what I proposed in the topic but these are for another time. But to help allay some concerns, I am talking about perhaps half a dozen trees spread out in a woodland of approximately 100 ha. Cheers
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Thanks Devon TWiG, hadn't thought of that.
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As I said in an earlier post, to fell the trees outright is too big a "shock" for some aspects of the rest of the woodland. We want the trees to die back gradually and create standing deadwood habitat. Also, sometimes the end justifies the means. (Not saying that is the case here.) For example, imagine you have a woodland designated as a SSSI but is chocked full of rhodo. You have an obligation to keep it in "favourable condition," the rhodo means that its in "unfavourable condition." What's the most (cost) effective way to do this? Cut and treat with a suitable (poison) herbicide.
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Quite right. But you can say the same about the veteranisation of individual trees and the arguments for and against it will be similar. There are clearly questions about SSSI status, conditions and obligations but I think that's a separate discussion. These trees will be well within the woodland and nowhere near paths so the there is effectively no target area. TBH I hadn't considered the transfer of the glyphosate into other organisms. Thanks for raising it, something to look in to.
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No, the beech are fine. The problem is that the dense shade their canopies cast and the proliferation of natural regeneration makes it difficult for other species to thrive. Not just tree species but also lichens and other lower plants which is what the SSSI designation is for, the lower plants. Ultimately we have an obligation to keep the SSSI in "favourable condition". This means not too much beech, amongst other things of course.
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Semi-mature to mature beech trees in a SSSI and NNR woodland. It might sound crazy to kill off mature trees and I suppose it is. But the presence of beech in these woodlands is seen as detrimental to the ovetall woodland habitat. I should add that we don't erradicate beech, just control its spread and by ring barking rather than felling we create standing deadwood and effect a gradual change to the canopy rather than causing a sudden shock by felling trees outright. Probably should have posted this on the woodland management forum!
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You make an excellent point. Even with the best intentions its unlikely that all plugs would or even could be retrieved. Plus we should all do our bit to reduce our plastic usage.
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Thanks for this nepia. I must admit to not having used them myself (although I have seen them I'm action) so not familiar with the details of their usage, especially the limitations. So it sounds like they should still "work", its just a case of efficacy. And of course, cost!
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Good point, but it would be easy enough to back and remove the plugs once they have done their job.
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Hi All First post so please be gentle! Has anyone out there got any experience of using Eco-Plugs for chemical felling purposes? I understand that the herbicide needs to get in to the cambium which is easily achieved when drilling into a stump as you can obviously just drill vertically down into it. However, on a live tree you cant do this, your holes will always be at an angle. This poses two questions; 1) will you achieve the right depth for the plug to be activated properly when you tap it in? 2) does the chemical come out of the sides of the plug (and therefore into the cambium you have drilled through) or the bottom (into the non-active wood). Also, with the tree still being fully "intact" will you need a ridiculous number of plugs to get any effect? (I suspect you will!) To pre-empt any questions, this is for standing deadwood creation purposes as an alternative to ring barking which has been effective but is visually not very subtle! Cheers
