tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49606450145264103162024-03-17T08:24:17.784+01:00My French Forestmichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040872440673601664noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4960645014526410316.post-49083954330467659602011-02-25T20:32:00.003+01:002011-03-27T15:55:56.409+02:00Gros Chene de Sully a Sazeirat.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pd885gKxi6k/TWQKdzXR73I/AAAAAAAABvM/9o3tzAMekeE/s1600/arennes+oak+016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" j6="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pd885gKxi6k/TWQKdzXR73I/AAAAAAAABvM/9o3tzAMekeE/s640/arennes+oak+016.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">This mighty oak tree is between 400-450 years old with a circumference of 7.1 meters</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"> (a little over 23 feet) My son Tom is sat at the base of the tree chatting with Mark Krawczck </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><a href="http://www.rivenwoodcrafts.com/Welcome.html">Riven Wood Crafts</a></span><span style="color: #b45f06;"> an </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">american </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">forester, writer and researcher and fellow tree enthusiast </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="border: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;">When you have lived in the same area for quite some time (13 years in my case) you can tend to become a little complacent that you have seen all that their is to see in the locality. When a friend said that he had been to see a huge Oak tree only 15km away from here I was all ears and made arrangements with him to go and see it the next day. </div><div class="separator" style="border: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;">We parked the car on the roadside and walked the 10 minutes or so down a tree lined old trackway to be confronted by an immense monster of an oak tree nestled in a sheltered valley. I was expecting something impressive but was not prepared for the sheer immensity of this beast of a tree. It is the type of tree that draws you in like a magnet and I couldn't resist immediatly planting my hands onto the deeply furrowed trunk.</div><div class="separator" style="border: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mQVPiPaA6gM/TWQJ7uLR0PI/AAAAAAAABu0/gfA84m8xZFM/s1600/arennes+oak+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" j6="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mQVPiPaA6gM/TWQJ7uLR0PI/AAAAAAAABu0/gfA84m8xZFM/s400/arennes+oak+010.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border: medium none;">The next task is trying to photograph this tree, you take a good few steps back to try to capture the collosal spread of the mighty limbs but it's still to big, you take a good few more steps back and it's still not far enough and just when I thought that I was going to get caught in the boggy ground alongside the Rau de Moulard which is the stream that flows close to the tree I was far enough back to more or less capture it full frame.</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rCgZkrn0_4A/TWQKqeMaiYI/AAAAAAAABvU/1XT5WGlCCO4/s1600/IMG_3268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" j6="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rCgZkrn0_4A/TWQKqeMaiYI/AAAAAAAABvU/1XT5WGlCCO4/s400/IMG_3268.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">This is your first glimpse of the enormous tree as you approach it. The grass </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">is well maintained although some of the surrounding woodwork and the pic-nik</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">table has seen better days.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: medium none;">On arriving home I embarked on some internet research about thie history of this tree. A few minutes of digging around and I found that this tree is known as a Sully tree.<br />
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<br />
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<br />
<b><u>The Duke of Sully</u></b><br />
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<b>Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully</b> (1560-1641) was First Minister and right hand man of Henry IV of France. He was also passionate about trees and was responsible for halting and outlawing the devastation of the forests of France that had preceeded his appointment. <br />
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He was also a great planter of trees In 1599 he was appointed Grand Commissioner of Highways and Public Works amongst other titles. He ensured that trees were planted all along the verges of his new roads and it is said that he was responsible for starting the French tradition of planting roadside avenues of poplars, limes and elm trees (almost all of the elms have sadly been lost to disease) which are so characteristic of so many roads in parts of France.<br />
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In addition to this, he also according to some sources ordered (or at least instructed) the planting of individual trees in towns and villages often to commerate specific events, such as the birth of Henry's heir or even to honour the occasion of Henry IV just passing through a town or village, also for religious reasons or even just to celebrate the industrial success of France or to symbolise reconciliation and hope for the future.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3_sjC5AytMs/TWQKXMMRKBI/AAAAAAAABvE/84iPLGKU18Q/s1600/arennes+oak+015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" j6="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3_sjC5AytMs/TWQKXMMRKBI/AAAAAAAABvE/84iPLGKU18Q/s400/arennes+oak+015.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">Mark Krawczyk -<a href="http://www.coppiceagroforestry.com/index.html">Coppice Agroforestry</a> stands on the huge fallen limb to inspect</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">the hollow interior. My young son Tom is sat at the base of the old Oak.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: medium none;">The trees that he was resposible for planting have become known as "Sully Trees" these were planted in places that were important to a community, such as near a church or where important markets took place. It is also noted that almost all of these commemerative trees are planted in tiny hamlets or small villages. It is not known wether these small communities were specially chosen by Sully or it is just the fact that it is only the trees located in quiet, out of the way places that have survived.<br />
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Following the assassination of Henry IV on 14th of May 1610 Sully resigned from state office on 26 January 1611, and retired to private life. Sully had never been popular in office, he was descibed as being selfish, obstinate and rude. He was hated by the Roman Catholics because he was a Protestant and by Protestants because he was faithful to the king and by almost everyone else also because he was the kings favourite. Sully, however was an excellent man of business and with time amassed a large personal fortune.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yFH5DkGmRww/TWQLQZp03eI/AAAAAAAABvw/2ipbHCPjlh4/s1600/IMG_3276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="222" j6="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yFH5DkGmRww/TWQLQZp03eI/AAAAAAAABvw/2ipbHCPjlh4/s400/IMG_3276.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">The tree is hidden away in a quiet sheltered valley growing without competition on</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">a rich deep soil with a large stream running nearby.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: medium none;">He was implicitly trusted by Henry IV and proved himself the most able assistant of the king in dispelling the chaos into which the religious and civil wars had plunged France. To Sully, next to Henry IV, belongs the credit for the happy transformation in France between 1598 and 1610 a period when foreign peace and internal order were reestablished.<br />
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It is not known how many of these Sully trees survive still today, no definitive list of them appears to have ever been put together. I have seen one list with 130 or so of them but this in not thought to be complete. Another Sully tree still survives very close to me in a village called Bersac. This tree is a lime tree which although I must have driven past many hundreds of times I have never noticed or visited, a situation that is very soon to be rectified!<br />
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We have much to thank him for, including the planting of many millions of trees throughout France including this one. Quite why this tree was planted in this specific place so far still remains a mystery to me. It lies close to a modest chateau and perhaps the owners had an admiration for the king. At least the connection to Sully enables some sort of age to be established of somewhere between 400 and 450 years which was a little less than I would have estimated for an oak tree of this stature. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R4QBINm7JNg/TWQLW3cyMjI/AAAAAAAABv0/aAAwPbRZafE/s1600/IMG_3277.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" j6="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R4QBINm7JNg/TWQLW3cyMjI/AAAAAAAABv0/aAAwPbRZafE/s400/IMG_3277.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">The wrenching off of the giant limb has exposed the decaying</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">heartwood within the tree.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>It has an impressive girth of 7.1 meters, The tree seems overal to be in pretty good health despite losing a huge lower limb, probably in December 1999 when we had winds approaching 140km/hr which were just too much for the tree to bare. <br />
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For whatever reason, this branch has not been cleared away and its presence adds to the charm of the site and also alerts you to the vulnerability and future mortality of this giant. <br />
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The sheering off of the branch has exposed a hollow and decaying interior which I expect will in some future decade be the trees downfall. <br />
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On the opposing side of the tree to the scar, sprouts an even bigger bough, almost the size of a normal mature broadleaved tree in its own right which I feel needs urgent propping and supporting to prevent it also breaking off. If this happened it would most certainly inflict the last fatal blow to this veteran survivor.</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=217016195354686566772.00049cfbae2c6412a262e&ll=46.086217,1.557677&spn=0.001682,0.007768&t=h&output=embed" width="425"></iframe></div><div align="justify"><small>View <a href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=217016195354686566772.00049cfbae2c6412a262e&ll=46.086217,1.557677&spn=0.001682,0.007768&t=h&source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Chene du Sully a sazeirat - How to find it</a> in a larger map</small></div><div align="justify"><br />
</div><div align="justify"><b><u>How to find the tree.</u></b></div><div align="justify">The tree is situated close to the chateau of Sazeirat in the commune of Arrenes (23210) on the western edge of the Creuse (department 23) in the Limousin region of France. As the crow flies it is situated just a few 100 meters from the D914 road that runs between Lauriere and Marsac. Please note that it is not signposted from the road. </div><div align="justify"><br />
</div><div align="justify"><b><u>Directions</u></b><br />
From the D914 about 1 km to the west of Marsac take the D48 road towards Arrenes. After several hundred meters there is a bend in the road with a metal cross standing by the roadside on the right hand side of the road in a field boundary. (If you get as far as the chateau at Sazeirat you have gone too far!). </div><div align="justify"><br />
</div><div align="justify">Park the car here and walk down the prominant tree lined trackway for about 850 meters (half a mile) crossing a small wooden bridge over a stream. As you climb the hill after the stream, a path branches off to the left with a sign for the "Gros Chene". The tree lies about 100m away and is difficult to miss!<br />
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Some of the information on the Duke of Sully and his trees was found on this highly informative website <a href="http://sullystrees.weebly.com/index.html">http://sullystrees.weebly.com/index.html</a> This is a site put together by Terry Brown from Bradford on Avon which is the twinned with Sully sur Loire in France. Terry has put a lot of effort and research into the quest for information on Sully trees for which I thank him for.<br />
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</div>michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040872440673601664noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4960645014526410316.post-941020190299885502011-01-07T23:12:01.161+01:002011-01-30T21:55:27.836+01:00The fight to save the endangered old growth forests on Canada's Pacific Coast<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSeOqKDyvqI/AAAAAAAABl4/_ySszyKuhMw/s1600/Ancient_Forest_Alliance_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" n4="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSeOqKDyvqI/AAAAAAAABl4/_ySszyKuhMw/s200/Ancient_Forest_Alliance_logo.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
On March 29th 1778 when Captain Cook and the first Europeans sailed down the the Nootka Sound on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island they discovered an amazing, seemingly endless forest of huge trees that flourished from the seashore to the mountain tops and stretched in a belt up to several hundred miles wide down the Pacific coast of North America, from British Columbia in the north down through Washington and Oregon and right down into northern California.</div><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSeKlYoIskI/AAAAAAAABlU/9pFOI8iScbA/s1600/Cheewhat_Cedar-35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSeKlYoIskI/AAAAAAAABlU/9pFOI8iScbA/s400/Cheewhat_Cedar-35.jpg" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">The Cheewhat Cedar is Canada's largest tree, located in the</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Pacific Rim National Park on the southwest coast of </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Vancouver Island it stands 55.5m (182ft) tall and has a</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">circumference of 18.3m (60ft) Photo by TJ Watt of the </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><a href="http://www.ancientforestalliance.org/">Ancient Forest Alliance</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>The economic potential of this enormous forest of massive firs and cedars was not immediatly recognized, in fact one early visitor was heard to remark "I raised my eyes to the sky and could see nothing but the worthless timber that covered everything" <br />
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It wasn't until 1848 that the first sawmill was opened near Victoria on the southern tip of Vancouver Island with others soon following. The early logging techniques were hard and labourious with the huge logs being hauled out by teams of oxen which were later mostly replaced by horses which were thought to be smarter and stronger.<br />
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Successive technological advances in haulage and sawmilling together with the arrival of the portable chainsaw in British Columbia during the early 1930's resulted in an astonishing rate of forest destruction with little or no regard to the magnificence of these temperate rainforests, the gigantic trees that exist within them and the fragile ecosystems that they support. <br />
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150 years of logging in British Columbia has converted a large portion of its once magnificent primeval forests into second growth tree plantations. Although the trees grow back, the 50-60 year cut rotation does not allow enough time for the forest to regain its prior old growth characteristics. The second growth forests typically lack the multi-layered canopy, rich understory and rotting wood debris that makes old growth such a valuable habitat for so many plant and animal species.<br />
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The Government of British Columbia contests that old growth forests are not endangered and is doing little to protect what remains. Environmental organizations and the people of BC are however putting intense pressure on the government to recognize the significant importance of these world class forests.</div> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSeLTvEIURI/AAAAAAAABlY/TL8Mo7398J0/s1600/Bugaboo_Creek_Clearcut-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSeLTvEIURI/AAAAAAAABlY/TL8Mo7398J0/s400/Bugaboo_Creek_Clearcut-4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">This stunning photo by TJ Watt of the <a href="http://www.ancientforestalliance.org/">Ancient Forest Alliance</a> perfectly captures </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">the horrific reality of clearcutting. To appreciate its full impact please view this photo in full size and resolution on <a href="http://utopiaphoto.ca/blog/?p=491">Utopia Photo Blog</a></span><span style="color: #b45f06;"> The photo was taken at Bugaboo Creek in the Gordon River Valley near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island in March 2010, 3 years after felling</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #888888;">"Of the tens of thousands of images I've shot over the years trying to capture the devastation happening to BC's temperate rainforests, I feel that this one sums it up best. Without experiencing these clearcuts in person it's nearly impossible to convey the scale, contrast, and emotional impact involved with the loss of such amazing endangered ancient forest. It's the golden goal to find the photo that will be efficient and summarize the story for you in a single shot."-TJ Watt</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The structure of land ownership is very different to what we in Europe are familiar with. In Canada the vast majority of land is held by the government on behalf of the monarchy and refered to as Crown Lands. In British Columbia an astonishing 94% of the land area is Provincial Crown lands with just 5% being privately owned. The remaining 1% are Federal Crown Lands that include Indian reserves, Defence Lands and Federal Harbours.<br />
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The sale of Crown Lands and the licences to exploit the mineral resources that exist underneath it, as well as the vast forests that cover it's surface all provide an important revenue to the government. It is the government that issues the licences over specific areas known as cut blocks that allow private companies to exploit the forest resource and so logically it follows that it is the provincial government that can legislate to provide permanent protection to the remaining areas of ancient forest so that they can be experienced and cherished by future generations.</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSeMFHPxrQI/AAAAAAAABlc/-S9LuEMv5OI/s1600/Elephant+Foot+Tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" n4="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSeMFHPxrQI/AAAAAAAABlc/-S9LuEMv5OI/s400/Elephant+Foot+Tree.jpg" width="303" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">This huge cedar known as the Elephant Foot Tree stands as a</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">lone giant in the forest. It stands along the Gordon River near</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island. This tree lacks any legal </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">protection in an area that is open to logging. Photo by TJ Watt</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">of the <a href="http://www.ancientforestalliance.org/">Ancient Forest Alliance</a> and taken from their</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"> <a href="http://www.ancientforestalliance.org/photos.php?gID=1">Biggest Trees Gallery</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Motivated by the lack of governmental action on environmental protection the <a href="http://wildernesscommittee.org/home">Western Canada Wilderness Committee</a> was formed during the early 1980's. Its campaigns have played a significant roll in the formation of many Provincial Parks, National Park Reserves and Conservation Areas. <br />
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With a membership of over 30,000 spirited supporters they work to protect all Canadian wildland areas from destruction and defends the right of public access to them. Without their campaigns to raise public awareness to the catastrophic forestry policy that has been followed by successive provincial governments in British Columbia many of the last remnents of old growth forest would have been destroyed.<br />
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<strong><u>The Formation of the Ancient Forest Alliance</u></strong><br />
In January 2010 Ken Wu, the former Campaign Director for the Western Canada Wilderness Committee along with TJ Watt and a few other activists decided to launch a new ENGO (Environmental Non-governmental organization) called the Ancient Forest Alliance. They felt a specific need to focus attention against the continued Old Growth logging that still continues to be licensed and supported by the provincial government in British Columbia.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSeM3EL_zxI/AAAAAAAABlk/LDzu0ZGxnXs/s1600/Walbran_Giant_Stump-1+with+Castle+Grove.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSeM3EL_zxI/AAAAAAAABlk/LDzu0ZGxnXs/s400/Walbran_Giant_Stump-1+with+Castle+Grove.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: #b45f06;">Recently clearcut ancient forest in the Upper Walbran valley on Vancouver </span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: #b45f06;">Island, Ken Wu, </span></strong><strong><span style="color: #b45f06;">campaign co-ordinator for </span></strong><strong><span style="color: #b45f06;">the Ancient Forest Alliance sits </span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: #b45f06;">on a 14ft diameter </span></strong><strong><span style="color: #b45f06;">Red Cedar stump surrounded by "tree waste" and other</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: #b45f06;">huge stumps. Photo by TJ Watt of the <a href="http://www.ancientforestalliance.org/">Ancient Forest Alliance</a></span></strong></td></tr>
</tbody></table> <strong><u>The Goals of the Ancient Forest Alliance</u></strong><br />
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<ul class="notopmar"><li>To undertake a Provincial Old-Growth Strategy that will create an inventory of the old-growth forests in BC and protect them where they are scarce (ie. Vancouver Island, southern Mainland coast, southern Interior, etc.) </li>
<li>Ensure the sustainable logging of second-growth forests, which now constitutes the majority of forest lands in southern BC. </li>
<li>End the export of BC raw logs to foreign mills in order to ensure a guaranteed log supply for BC mills and value-added processing facilities. </li>
<li>Assist in the retooling and development of BC coastal sawmills and value-added facilities to handle second-growth logs. </li>
<li>Undertake new, democratic land-use planning processes to protect endangered forests based on new First Nations land-use plans, ecosystem-based scientific assessments, and climate mitigation strategies through forest protection. </li>
</ul> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSeNeE1EEgI/AAAAAAAABlo/zxm5uiyEnj4/s1600/Douglas+Fir_Log+waste.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSeNeE1EEgI/AAAAAAAABlo/zxm5uiyEnj4/s400/Douglas+Fir_Log+waste.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">I cannot imagine being privalaged enough to own a mighty </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Douglas </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">Fir of these dimensions, so to see such a beautiful </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">log </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">left as wood </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">waste is beyond my comprehension. </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Photo by TJ Watt, <a href="http://www.ancientforestalliance.org/">Ancient Forest Alliance</a></span></td></tr>
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The organisation has also chosen not to have charitable status which makes it harder for them to get donations. Charities in Canada are not permitted to be critical of government policies, obviously to be non political would put the AFA in an almost impossible position as their main driving force is to stop the destruction of the last remaining old growth forests which is being caused directly by the forestry policy of the provincial government. They can now directly criticize or congratulate individual politicians or parties on their stance on old-growth forests - something you MUST be able to do in order to win such a big battle. They are also helping train and empower activists in Ancient Forest Committees that will work in key provincial swing ridings to directly put pressure on politicians and their forest policies. This has resulted in a no frills, highly active, grassroots organization that's becoming the driving force in the fight to protect BC’s endangered ancient forests and forestry jobs.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><strong>Why do we need to protect old growth forest?</strong><br />
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Old-growth forests are important because they are home to a large array of biodiversity, including many species at risk that need old-growth forests and that can't flourish in younger forests. <br />
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It provides clean water for people, spawning salmon, and wildlife by preventing the soil erosion that occurs in these mountainous, high rainfall areas when the trees are lost and new roads and logging tracks established.<br />
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An increasing global awareness of the environmental importance of these unique temperate rainforests and the sheer immensity of the giant trees that can only grow within them have become fundamental pillars of BC's multi-billion dollar tourism industry. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TUKDb1T8J-I/AAAAAAAABnU/6mDl5AcTApI/s1600/Red_Creek_Trail_Cedars-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" s5="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TUKDb1T8J-I/AAAAAAAABnU/6mDl5AcTApI/s400/Red_Creek_Trail_Cedars-3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">An amazing group of ancient redcedars.The surrouding areas were all logged within the past 100 years</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"> but for </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">some reason these magnificent trees were spared. These trees are along the trail to </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">the Red Creek Fir </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">- the worlds tallest Douglas Fir Tree near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island. </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Photo by TJ Watt of the <a href="http://www.ancientforestalliance.org/">Ancient Forest Alliance</a></span></td></tr>
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It is now clear that in hard financial terms these trees are worth much more to British Columbia in hard dollars still standing than they are as a timber commodity. If these last remaining forest fragments are lost it will take a second growth forest at least 250 years to start to regain the charcteristics of old growth forests.<br />
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Unfortunately, the British Columbian provincial government and much of the forest industry maintains that “old-growth forests are not endangered” on Vancouver Island. They continue to make these false statements despite all the evidence from satellite pictures. They continue to promote misleading statistics to justify their continued destruction of the Old Growth Forests. In an attempt to pacify the public they’ve been greatly inflating the statistics of the remaining old-growth forests and protected areas by including vast tracts of stunted forests that grow in bogs and sub-alpine snow forests. Most of these forest cannot profitably be logged but are included in the statistics to make the figures look good. The fact is that over 90% of the original old growth forest in the valley bottoms have already been logged. This is home to the biologically richest areas of forest and are where the biggest trees grow.<br />
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<strong>The Export of raw logs from British Columbia to China and the USA.</strong><br />
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During the past decade, timber companies such as TimberWest have closed sawmills and secondary wood processing facilities in British Columbia and have for economic reasons decided to export the raw logs to other processing facilities mainly in China and the USA. This has led to a loss of over twenty thousand skilled jobs in the timber processing industry in British Columbia and the closure of over 70 sawmills and wood processing facilities. During the last 8 years over 30 million cubic meters of raw logs have been exported for secondary processing in foreign sawmills mostly located in China and the USA. <br />
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The Ancient Forest Alliance recognises the need for a healthy forest industry and they are calling on the provincial goverment of BC to undertake the following actions<br />
<ul><li>End the export of raw logs from British Columbia to foreign mills in order to ensure a guaranteed log supply for BC wood processing facilities. </li>
<li>Assist in the retooling of coastal BC sawmills and the development of value-added facilities to handle second-growth logs.</li>
<li>Ensure the sustainable logging of second-growth forests, which now constitutes the majority of forest lands in southern BC and to end the practice of “high-grade” over-cutting of the biggest, best old-growth trees in the valley bottoms and lower elevations. </li>
<li>Undertake a Provincial Old-Growth Strategy that will create an inventory of remaining old growth forest and protect what remains in regions where they are scarce (eg’s. Vancouver Island, Southern Mainland Coast, Southern Interior, etc.) </li>
</ul>Due to this common sense approach to forestry the AFA is well supported by forestry workers and logging unions in British Columbia, members of which have even appeared in rallies organised by the AFA. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TURrxXjLJSI/AAAAAAAABnc/j1AJEAn9qrU/s1600/vancouver+island+1860.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="303" s5="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TURrxXjLJSI/AAAAAAAABnc/j1AJEAn9qrU/s400/vancouver+island+1860.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">A map of Vancouver Island from 1860 showing the extensive old growth forest that once </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">blanketed the island</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TURs9OeAgNI/AAAAAAAABnk/C4DyevjSR2Q/s1600/vancouver+Island+2004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="305" s5="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TURs9OeAgNI/AAAAAAAABnk/C4DyevjSR2Q/s400/vancouver+Island+2004.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">The same map but from 2004 showing the almost complete logging that has occured </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">on Vancouver Island in just </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">a little over 140 years. Data courtessy of the Sierra Club </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">and can </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">be seen as larger versions on the website of the </span><a href="http://www.ancientforestalliance.org/old-growth-maps.php#map">Ancient Forest Alliance</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><strong><u>Flores Island.</u></strong><br />
Sitting just off the west coast of Vancouver Island lies Flores Island. It's 7113 hectares are covered with amazing coastal rainforest that remain virtually untouched by logging companies. This unique complete ecosystem remains 96% intact. The provincial government of British Columbia has however issued licences for areas to be clearfelled. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSeNvJxk3yI/AAAAAAAABls/wTPwRq521S0/s1600/Flores+Island+River_Inlet_07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" n4="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSeNvJxk3yI/AAAAAAAABls/wTPwRq521S0/s400/Flores+Island+River_Inlet_07.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">The latest campaign by the Ancient Forest Alliance is to try to stop planned </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">clearcutting </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">from taking place on Flores Island which lies just off the west coast of </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Vancouver Island. The islands 7113 hectares of ancient forest are 96% intact</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Photo by TJ Watt of the <a href="http://www.ancientforestalliance.org/">Ancient Forest Alliance</a></span></td></tr>
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This is a description of Flores Island made by the AFA. "<span style="color: #2a2a2a;">Flores Island is one of the largest contiguous tracts of old-growth rainforest left on BC’s southern coast and is certainly among Earth’s most stunningly scenic places. The largely unlogged island is home to large populations of cougars, wolves, bears, and deer in its ancient forests and gray whales, humpback whales, porpoises, orcas, sea otters, and sea lions in its marine waters.<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
Spectacular old-growth redcedar and Sitka spruce stands have been recently surveyed and flagged for logging on eastern Flores Island, which has some of the densest stands of giant trees in the world, and<br />
landing pads for heli-logging have been carved into the forest. Logging could begin as soon as early 2011".</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"></div><strong><u>What can you do to help?</u></strong> <br />
<ul><li>Please sign the <a href="http://www.ancientforestpetition.com/index.php#sign">Ancient Forest Petition</a> by adding your name and show the BC Government that people from all over the world care about what happens to these remarkable trees and forests.</li>
<li>Join the Ancient Forest Alliance (2nd group) on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=464212940556&ref=ts">Facebook</a> and keep up to date with new photos and campaign information.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ancientforestalliance.org/write-letter.php">Write a letter </a>to show your concern. Every letter represents hundreds more people who feel the same way. <strong>Your message will be automatically addressed to BC's Premier Gordon Campbell as well as BC's Minister of Forests and Range Pat Bell.</strong></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ancientforestalliance.org/donate.php">Donate</a> if you are able. Although the AFA is a non-profit organisation the success of the campaigning to raise public awareness inevitably leads to expenses on essential items such as minimal core staff requirements, travel costs, phone bills, web work, room bookings, printing costs, and more.</li>
<li>Subscribe to the AFA's video channel on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/BCAncientForest">YouTube</a> </li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSeODLPWQBI/AAAAAAAABlw/oYEZd1sJN_E/s1600/Sitka_Hanging_Gardens_05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSeODLPWQBI/AAAAAAAABlw/oYEZd1sJN_E/s400/Sitka_Hanging_Gardens_05.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">Sitka Spruce at it's pinnacle of development in the Temperate Rainforest of Canada's </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Pacific coast, covered in epiphytes in its </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">natural environment. To anyone from the </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">UK </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">this is the environmentalists most hated tree, planted in its hundreds of </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">millions in </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">the </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">northwestern parts of Britain, especially Scotland in dark, sterile monocultures. But to</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">see Sitka Spruce growing like this, in it's natural habitat has really changed my perspective</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">on this giant of the Pacific forests. Photo by TJ Watt of the <a href="http://www.ancientforestalliance.org/">Ancient Forest Alliance</a></span></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSeOZTFvt4I/AAAAAAAABl0/j4m55qenNxU/s1600/ancient-forest-petition.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="66" n4="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSeOZTFvt4I/AAAAAAAABl0/j4m55qenNxU/s400/ancient-forest-petition.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;">I would like to thank TJ Watt for giving me permission to use his remarkable photos and also to all the members of the Ancient Forest Alliance for their tireless efforts in trying to save these remarkable giant trees and the unique forests that they are a part of. </div>michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040872440673601664noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4960645014526410316.post-55877716541213346092011-01-05T19:34:00.342+01:002011-02-08T08:55:22.888+01:00Woodland Tree Guide 2 Norway Spruce<span style="background-color: #f6b26b;">Norway Spruce <em>Picea abies</em></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQhO_57hfUyKxy_Z_qr8ht7SmhVI2ClkvoaW72wraA3Wa7FLxR6nA" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" class="rg_hi" data-height="205" data-width="246" height="205" id="rg_hi" src="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQhO_57hfUyKxy_Z_qr8ht7SmhVI2ClkvoaW72wraA3Wa7FLxR6nA" style="height: 205px; width: 246px;" width="246" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">The natural distribution of Norway Spruce</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I have chosen this tree, as it is yet another favourite of mine - I expect that I shall be writing this on almost every tree profile that I write! I think that it looks especially good as a young tree, it has a lovely full and well proportioned profile with such rich, healthy looking green needles. <br />
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Norway Spruce has a natural distribution through the more mountainous areas of central Europe and a more general distribution across Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. Pollen evidence shows that it was present in the British Isles before the last Ice Age but failed to naturally re-establish itself after the ice retreated. It is thought to have been introduced into Great Britain before the 15th centuary. <br />
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It has for many centuries been planted beyond it's natural range, both as a timber and shelterbelt tree and in countless millions as the classic Christmas tree. It is a tough and vigorous tree that is not prone to serious attacks from pests and diseases. It's dense natural habit provides year round shelter for many birds and mammals. The seeds are eaten by birds such as the goldcrest and long tailed tit and also red squirrels. <br />
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<strong><span style="color: #38761d;">Soils</span></strong><br />
<span style="color: black;">This is quite an adaptable tree that can grow well on both clay soils and sandy ones. It prefers a deep loam soil (as do most plants!) in an area with rainfall of at least 510mm (20") but preferably 900mm (35+") per year. They prefer an acid soil with a ph between 5 and 7.5 but will grow with reduced vigour and density on soils with a ph level higher than this.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="color: #38761d;">Growth</span></strong><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSl1GzwfGWI/AAAAAAAABmA/zzx9KHp7CN4/s1600/norway+spruce+hedge+and+tree+007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSl1GzwfGWI/AAAAAAAABmA/zzx9KHp7CN4/s320/norway+spruce+hedge+and+tree+007.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"> One of my own Norway Spruce. I found this </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">as a </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">naturally regenerated seedling 8 years ago </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">buried </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">under </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">broom bushes and growing very </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">slowly. </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Clearing away the competing vegetation has </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">allowed </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">it to become a fine young tree of over 5 meters tall </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="color: black;">As is normal during the first year following planting the growth rate is not spectacular as the plant in concentrating on developing its root system for future growth, so perhaps 12-20 cm is realistic, perhaps a little more if your weed control is excellent and in a year with plenty of warm summer rain. The survival and growth rate is higher if your plants are stocky and have been well handled by the nursery that you purchased them from. Growth soon increases to be 60-90cm per year, even up to 180cm in perfect conditions. Height growth however, decreases rapidly after about 60 years. </span></div><br />
<span style="color: black;">Larger trees such as those bought as bare rooted Christmas trees have a low survival rate. If they live, the new growth will be very short often only a few cm's and often quite yellowish in colour. However within a year or two they will regain full health and vigour and can grow into fine trees. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Plantation grown trees need to be thinned on a regular basis, otherwise they will grow very tall and thin making them highly susceptable to windsnap as happened here in the "Tempete" of December 1999 when winds gusted to 150km/hour. Almost every Norway Spruce plantation in this locality was devastated, with most trees snapped clean off between 2 and 4 meters above ground due to their slender, whippy stems that are the result not being thinned sufficiently during the development of the plantation.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="color: #38761d;">Frost</span></strong><br />
<span style="color: black;">Although the mature trees are immensely hardy and can survive extreme mountain conditions the new Spring shoots are very frost tender and a late frost can cause a lot of cosmetic damage to Christmas tree plantations. For this reason, trees for this purpose are grown from seed collected from parts of Europe where the trees flush late, either from areas of Germany or Romania. The damaged trees usually recover from frost damage, although growth for that year will usually be reduced.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="color: #38761d;">Fruiting</span></strong> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSQu86UMNhI/AAAAAAAABlE/beH_oN9iZQo/s1600/Norway+spruce+flower+wiki.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSQu86UMNhI/AAAAAAAABlE/beH_oN9iZQo/s320/Norway+spruce+flower+wiki.jpg" width="217" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">Female flower of Norway Spruce photo by</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Tilo Podner</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The beautiful flowers appear in the late Spring on the tips of the branches once the tree is about 30 - 35 years old. After pollination by windblown pollen grains, the cone begins to develop, taking from 5-7 months to reach maturity and as it grows larger begins to hang downwards from the branch. </div><br />
The cones are generally between 9 and 17cm long with the longest cones being found on trees that originate from the more Southeastern parts of Europe. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSDeZtG0K8I/AAAAAAAABks/7cszEb5ajw0/s1600/Norway+Spruce+cones+sarah+gregg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSDeZtG0K8I/AAAAAAAABks/7cszEb5ajw0/s320/Norway+Spruce+cones+sarah+gregg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">Clusters of developing Norway Spruce cones. These will turn </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">brown as </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">they mature before releasing the seeds held within on</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"> the first warm sunny </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">days in early Spring. This beautiful photo was </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">taken by Sarah Gregg in </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">Roccamorice, Arbruzzi, Italy and can be</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"> seen </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">on her Flickr album.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TR0MZJEFcJI/AAAAAAAABag/Mhd2vHYeunA/s1600/Old+Tjikko.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TR0MZJEFcJI/AAAAAAAABag/Mhd2vHYeunA/s320/Old+Tjikko.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">Old Tjikko 9550 years old, discovered by geologist Leif Kullman</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Generally speaking, under normal circumstances this is not an especially long lived tree with specimens over 200 years old being rare. The oldest known specimen in central Europe was found in Germany, in the Bavarian Forest and was 468 years old. To directly contradict this statement that it is not a long lived species, a specimen named Old Tjikko found on Fulu Mountain in the Dalarna province of Sweden was in 2008 found by carbon dating its roots to be 9550 years old. Scientists have in this area identified a cluster of Norway Spruce trees over 8000 years old. These trees have been able to survive the harsh tundra type conditions by posessing the ability to keep regrowing a new trunk when the existing one died to produce a tufty looking bushy shrub. Because of the warming temperatures that the area has experienced during the last centuary these trees have been able to grow a proper trunk and presently resemble a more normal shaped tree. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TR4YH12TUMI/AAAAAAAABao/VOtuhkrBJkQ/s1600/Norway+Spruce+forest+czech+republic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TR4YH12TUMI/AAAAAAAABao/VOtuhkrBJkQ/s400/Norway+Spruce+forest+czech+republic.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">A typical, dense forest of Norway Spruce trees located <span style="color: #b45f06;">close to Jachymov, Karlovarsky to the </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">N.W. of </span></span><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">Praha (Prague) in the Czech Republic. Permission to </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">use this </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">photo has been kindly </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">granted by </span></span><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">abejorro34 and appears in his Flickr photo albums <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/abejorro34/with/4896848449/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/abejorro34/with/4896848449/</a></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Norway Spruce and the White Fir (abies alba) are the tallest native trees in Europe. It is capable of growing to 40-50 meters in favourable conditions, the tallest specimen accuratly measured is 59.2 meters (193ft) and grows in the Sächsische Schweiz National Park, Germany. A specimen of 63 meters (207ft) in the Perućica Forest in Sutjeska National Park, Bosnia-Herzegovina<span style="color: #3b5998;"> </span>was measured by a triangulation technique which is variable in its accuracy. Claims also exist of trees 70-80+ meters in height in the Jura region of France but these remain unverified. In North America it is unusual to find specimens over 40m (130ft)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TR4ZXqZDOkI/AAAAAAAABaw/qqZ9J_SFmqI/s1600/Norway+Spruce+czech+republic+regeneration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TR4ZXqZDOkI/AAAAAAAABaw/qqZ9J_SFmqI/s640/Norway+Spruce+czech+republic+regeneration.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">Prolific Norway Spruce regeneration adjacent to a light canopy of mother trees. These provide the seeds </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">for natural </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">regeneration without having to replant. The trees are growing in the mountains near<span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"> Jachymov,</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"> Karlovarsky to the </span></span><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">N.W. of </span></span><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">Praha (Prague) in the Czech Republic. Permission to </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">use this </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">photo has </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">been kindly </span></span><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">granted by </span></span><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">abejorro34 and appears in his Flickr photo albums <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/abejorro34/with/4896848449/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/abejorro34/with/4896848449/</a></span></span></span><br />
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</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: #38761d;">Timber</span></strong></div>A well managed plantation will produce quality wood of great versitility that is easy to work, cuts cleanly and that can be sanded to a fine surface. It also glues well and a good looking finish results from painting and varnishing. It is used in large quantities for interior building construction, joinery, flooring and wall panelling, boxes, plywood, chipboard and paper pulp. Older traditional uses include firewood (as is still common in Eastern and Northern Europe), charcoal, scaffolding poles, ladders, boat masts and oars, High quality slow grown wood has excellent tonal qualities and is used for piano soundboards and violin and guitar bellies. The resin was gathered to make healing ointments, plasters and skin pastes. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong><span style="color: #38761d;">BEER!!</span></strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The young shoots, picked when growing in Spring can even be used to brew spruce beer which has been described as ranging in taste from floral, citrusy and fruity to cola like and the rather less surpising, resinous and piney, It has been quite widely brewed in Northern Europe, the U.S. and Eastern Canada. A slightly less exciting, non alcoholic soft drink version can also be made. More information and a spruce beer recipe from 1796 can be found here- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_beer">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_beer</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: #38761d;">Norway Spruce as a hedge.</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;"> </div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSl1yhJJMyI/AAAAAAAABmE/ZUDM5xxENG8/s1600/norway+spruce+hedge+and+tree+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSl1yhJJMyI/AAAAAAAABmE/ZUDM5xxENG8/s320/norway+spruce+hedge+and+tree+002.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">A Norway Spruce hedge growing locally. This one was planted at </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">50cm </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">spacings and is quite dense with no holes or bare patches. It has </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">not </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">cut for 2 years and looks slightly unloved. If it had been my garden </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">I would have let it grow taller to hide the ugly shed next door!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unlike most forest conifers Norway Spruce makes a pretty respectable hedge, it's dense branching habit and ability to grow in shady conditions make it quite suitable for this. It is however very little used in gardens for this purpose and rarely stocked by garden centres. It can be bought quite cheaply from Forestry Nurseries as a small bare rooted tree for planting from the late Autumn until early Spring and is less vigouous and more easier to control than the overly promoted Leylandii which is constantly striving to reach for the sky and not be a small garden hedge and seems to bristle with new growth after each time it rains.<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;">Here is a somewhat curiously shaped Norway Spruce trunk that I spotted in Flickr whilst looking for photos for this post. This looks like it has grown from a number of trees that have been planted very close together. I'm presuming that it has been planted and has not arisen by means of natural regeneration, perhaps a bundle of young trees were left over when the wood was originally planted. The surviving stronger specimens from the bundle have grown and become interwoven with their young trunks fusing together, as is quite common with rubbing branches in a number of tree species.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSQyQPB9C2I/AAAAAAAABlM/mEdzAFQplag/s1600/candy+twist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TSQyQPB9C2I/AAAAAAAABlM/mEdzAFQplag/s400/candy+twist.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">The Candy Twist Norway Spruce. Permission to use this photo was</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">kindly given by Will Anderson and can be seen in his Flickr album.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> </div></div></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: right;"></div> <br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040872440673601664noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4960645014526410316.post-77908435421045040912010-12-22T22:04:00.040+01:002010-12-22T22:44:07.053+01:00How to make a Firewood Cutting Frame<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TRDi7re_GaI/AAAAAAAABYg/31dfE3YfOA0/s1600/Loaded+log+frame+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TRDi7re_GaI/AAAAAAAABYg/31dfE3YfOA0/s400/Loaded+log+frame+003.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">The finished log cutting frame loaded with 1 meter logs that have</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">just been cut at 50cm. The 50cm cutting position is on the </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">opposite </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">side of the frame where the chainsaw can fit easily </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">between the </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">supporting </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">legs to give the maximum width of cut.</span> </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">When I moved to this part of rural France I found that almost everyone used wood as a source of heat during the winter months. Firewood is almost always cut into 1 meter lengths for stacking and drying before being cut into shorter lengths that can fit into a woodburning stove or cooker. The most common method of cutting up these 1 meter pieces is on a saw bench, which is a fairly quick and efficient method. Personally I have an deep instinctive fear of repeatedly having my fingers so close to an unguarded circular saw. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The alternative is to use a sawing horse and cut the wood with a chainsaw. I very quickly found this method slow and inefficient and infact on ocassions dangerous for cutting smaller round logs which can get hooked on the saw teeth of the chainsaw and spin as if they were on a lathe. <br />
<br />
You find that you are endlessly putting logs on and off the saw horse, sometimes even resorting to secure the log with your foot to maintain it's position - some years ago I saw a Frenchman doing this very thing whilst wearing slippers!!! Each time you need to put on another log to be cut you have to put the chainsaw down on the ground. I found that all you end up with is a small pile of logs and backache.</div></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The cost effective alternative to the above methods is to use a firewood cutting frame or rack to pack all the logs into, then to cut through all of the logs held within the frame with a chainsaw. It takes me around 5-10 minutes to fill the frame, packing the logs in tightly, in as good a fit as possible. 30 to 60 seconds to cut through the logs depending on how many cuts are to be made and another 5-10 minutes to remove the cut wood from the frame and throw it either into the log shed or the back of the van for delivery. It generally takes me about 60 to 75 minutes to process 2 cubic meters of wood if it is cut to 50cm lengths and about 90 minutes as 33cm. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>For myself, I find this to be a much safer, faster and more efficient way to produce firewood than using a sawbench or sawhorse. Of couse it will never beat a firewood processing machine, but unless you are a large scale firewood producer the huge expenditure on these machines cannot be justified.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TRDjyPPg-cI/AAAAAAAABYo/xz1TAXY1rkc/s1600/Loaded+log+frame+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TRDjyPPg-cI/AAAAAAAABYo/xz1TAXY1rkc/s400/Loaded+log+frame+001.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">The logs are packed as solidly as possible into the frame which</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">minimises the settlement and log movement during cutting. Any</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">small diameter round logs are best <strong>NOT</strong> placed on the top of the</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"> stack because the teeth of the chainsaw can snag them and </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">make </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">them spin dangerously. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>The dimensions that I have given below will make a firewood cutting frame that will contain 0.5 of a cubic meter of wood. The 1 meter pieces that it contains can be cut into three to yield logs that are 33cm long or into two to give 50cm logs. Of course logs of any length can be produced by changing the distances between the legs and cross members when constructing the frame. I have positioned the legs in such a way as to enable the chainsaw to fit fully between them to enable the maximum possible cutting width with my saws 50cm guide bar. You can of course make a frame to cut a smaller volume by reducing the height of the support legs. I, myself am quite tall and have a lot of chainsaw experience and therefore feel confidant holding the saw at around head height to start the cutting at the top of the frame. A shorter person might find it safer and more comfortable to have the wood stacked to a lower height.<br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Cutting frames like this but made of steel are available I have seen a tiny one in a DIY store in Limoges for 80 euros, it has the capacity for maybe 6 or 7 logs at a time. I also have a deep mistrust of using a chainsaw in close proximity to metal. From time to time the unexpected can occur and I would rather end up catching the structure of a saw frame made of wood rather than one of steel. A wooden frame is easy to patch up if a mistake is made, I have one that has cut well over 1000 cubic meters of firewood and it's still going strong, although it has had 2 major patch ups so far.</div><br />
<u>Materials list</u><br />
<br />
For the 6 vertical parts of the frame I have used 9.90 meters of 63mm x 75mm <br />
For the bracing cross members and support rails I have used 9.92 meters of 40mm x 60mm<br />
approx 48 70mm wood screws<br />
approx 20 120mm wood screws<br />
Cordless drill with correct screwdriver bits<br />
6mm spurpoint or twist drill bits for predrilling screw holes<br />
Handsaw<br />
Set square<br />
Pencil<br />
Permanent marker pen<br />
Disc sander for rounding off the carrying handles (optional)<br />
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<u>Preparation</u><br />
<br />
Cut 6 pieces of 63mm x 75mm into lengths of 1650mm - these will be the 6 vertical legs<br />
Cut 2 pieces of 40mm x 60mm into lengths of 830mm - for the two lower leg bracing rails<br />
Cut 2 pieces of 40mm x 60mm into lengths of 1430mm - for the two upper bracing rails that support the cutting bed.<br />
Cut 6 pieces of 40mm x 60mm into lengths of 600mm - for the cross members for the cutting bed<br />
Cut 4 pieces of 40mm x 60mm into lengths of 450mm - for additional wood supports for the cutting bed<br />
<br />
<u>Construction</u><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TRDmAY8FsbI/AAAAAAAABYw/fUogztgWJGA/s1600/026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TRDmAY8FsbI/AAAAAAAABYw/fUogztgWJGA/s320/026.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">The 3 legs for one side of the cutting frame already </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">marked for the position of the two rails. One at </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">7cm </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">and the other at 380mm. The rails sit above </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">the marks.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Mark a pencil line on each one of the narrower edges of all 6 legs at 70mm from the end and then a second line at 380mm from the same end, these mark the lower positions for the two horizontal rails.<br />
On a flat surface, position 3 of the legs parallel to each other, place the shorter (830mm) rail above the pencil mark made at 70mm. Screw the two outer legs flush with the end of this rail and position the middle leg at 390mm from the left side and drive at least 2 screws into each point where the pieces overlap each other.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TQzyS2NCr9I/AAAAAAAABRY/Dr-n4cPEI1E/s1600/024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TQzyS2NCr9I/AAAAAAAABRY/Dr-n4cPEI1E/s320/024.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">The two rails attached to make up one side of the frame. The top rail sticks out to form carrying handles to enable the frame to be </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">moved around more easily.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TQz1GYFdSXI/AAAAAAAABRg/7NEXGqShHLI/s1600/firewood+frame+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TQz1GYFdSXI/AAAAAAAABRg/7NEXGqShHLI/s320/firewood+frame+001.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">The two halves laid out on the floor an exact mirror</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"> image of each other.</span></td></tr>
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Next position the cutting bed support rail (length 1430mm) just above the pencil line made at 380mm, position the rail centrally so that 300mm sticks out from each side of the outer legs on each side- these will be the carrying handles for the cutting frame to make it easier to move around. When you are happy with the position screw them into place. Remember that the rails will run on the inside of the frame. You have now made one side of the cutting frame, now you have to make the other. It is important to remember that this needs to be an exact mirror image of the first side!</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TREdd_mqcRI/AAAAAAAABY8/tUWX2j9ki-M/s1600/firewood+frame+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TREdd_mqcRI/AAAAAAAABY8/tUWX2j9ki-M/s320/firewood+frame+003.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">One side of the cutting frame with the first four</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">bracing pieces attached to join the two halves together</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The next stage is to lean one side of the frame on something secure and with the rails on the inside attach four of the 600mm bracing pieces with 70mm screws as shown in the photo to the right and then move the other half of the frame into position and drive in two 70mm screws where each bracing piece attaches to each leg. It helps to have someone to help hold the frame sections in place, but I managed without. The frame is now stable and it is just a matter of attaching the final two 600mm bracing pieces and the four, 450mm log supports that stop the cut logs from falling through the frame when they are cut. Each of the 450mm log supports is fixed to the support rail underneath with a 120mm screw, for added security I have also placed a screw vertically down through all of the bracing pieces into their respective supporting rails. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>Note -</strong>All of the short pieces are predrilled to prevent the wood from splitting when the screws are driven through them. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">To make it a little kinder on the hands I rounded off the square edges of the carrying handles with a disc sander and I find them much improved and it is well worth the less than 5 minutes that it takes ( this was done after these photos were taken). Finally I marked the cutting positions with a permanent marker. </div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TQz2vMAq3CI/AAAAAAAABRs/J1CaAJKUFNY/s1600/firewood+frame+004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TQz2vMAq3CI/AAAAAAAABRs/J1CaAJKUFNY/s320/firewood+frame+004.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">The two halves of the frame joined together.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TQz5EJmlC7I/AAAAAAAABSQ/UW929D3RYHM/s1600/firewood+frame+007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TQz5EJmlC7I/AAAAAAAABSQ/UW929D3RYHM/s320/firewood+frame+007.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">The finished frame with all the bracing pieces and log </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">supports fitted. After the photo was taken I rounded </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">off the carrying handles with a disc grinder.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Including my planning and preparation time it took well under 3 hours to make. If I was to make another the same I expect that I could shave easily another hour off that. The cost of the wood at a small, local French builders merchant was 30 euro's. I probably could have got it for less if I had gone to a bigger mechant further away but would have easily lost any price advantage with the added fuel costs. <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
<u>Tips for cutting your firewood</u></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">When loading the frame it is important to make sure that the individual pieces fit together in the best possible way. It is preferable to make sure that the frame is packed as solidly as possible. If it is not well packed then the logs will change position greatly when the log lengths are cut and makes it more likely for them to fall out of the cutting frame. Make sure that all the smaller diameter round logs are placed in the lower part of the frame where they will be held solidly. If they are placed loose on the top of the loaded frame then the chainsaw teeth can catch them and make them spin dangerously. I always put larger, heavier logs on the top of the frame and also any larger pieces that are of an awkward shape and do not fit well into the frame. It is not normally neccesary to secure the logs with a ratchet strap if you follow my advice, but the use of one does slightly decrease the movement within the frame when the logs are cut and give a little more security to the cutter.</div></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><u>Safety</u></div></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Chainsaws are potentially very dangerous tools and it is advisable that anyone who operates one has had some training and is both competant and confident in their use. </div></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
You must also wear eye and ear protection and steel toe cap boots are recommened. </div></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
The chainsaw should have a guide bar long that is long enough to reach across the entire width of the cutting frame to minimise the risk of kickback.<br />
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The guide bar should be in good condition and not worn otherwise the saw will not cut stright. The saw chain must be correctly sharpened. If the chainsaw is running correctly and the saw teeth are sharp the saw will cut through the wood using only the force of it's own weight - you will not have to hardly use any downward force at all to cut through the wood.<br />
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Happy sawing - Michael</div></div></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040872440673601664noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4960645014526410316.post-76217885332316897972010-12-05T18:40:00.004+01:002011-03-09T13:18:38.790+01:00Woodland Tree Guide 1 BEECHIn an effort to add a little bit more diversity (and volume) to my blog I thought that I would include a guide to woodland trees. I do not however intend to include every bit of minute information about each species -this is available widely elsewhere, I will therefore (as usual) be expressing my own opinion as to the merits and bad points of each tree species. I intend to alternate these posts with my output of more general tree information. I have drawn up an initial list of around 60 species to cover, so not knowing quite where to start and not wanting to do it alphabetically I thought that I would start with one of my favourites.<br />
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<span style="background-color: #f1c232;">Beech <em>fagus sylvatica</em></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TPqZg1TL8vI/AAAAAAAABMM/NSOmwQEsVAU/s1600/beech+trees+004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" ox="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TPqZg1TL8vI/AAAAAAAABMM/NSOmwQEsVAU/s400/beech+trees+004.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">The beautiful smooth silvery trunks of two Beech trees just </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">down the road from where I live.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Found almost everywhere in western Europe, many of you will already know that these trees are a wonderful combination of grace, beauty, adaptability and usefulness. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">If you are looking to plant Beech as a potential timber tree you have several choices as to where to get your planting stock, firstly if you have trees of good form in your locality you can usually quite easily find some self sown seedlings. If these are dug up carefully during the dormant season and placed in a plastic bag for storage and ease of transport, so that the delicate roots cannot dry out.If they are then planted out fairly quickly (within a few days) you can sucessfully move young trees that are up to about 1.3 meters in height. These will have reduced growth for a year or so after planting but will then grow away nicely. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">If fact 7 years ago, I found a young Beech tree of 2.4 meters in height that had been ripped from the ground by a large forestry machine, luckily the weather was mild and damp so my young son and I carried it to one of my fields and planted it close to the boundary.It has not only survived without any dieback but has since thrived and become a fine specimen. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><u>Largest Beech Specimens </u></span><br />
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To the best of my knowledge the tallest European Beech tree, stands at 45.4 meters in the Sonian Forest, Hoeilaart, Belgium. The tallest in the UK is in Lydney Park, Gloucestershire and is a very respectable 43 meters. The tree with the greatest girth (the trunk circumference, usually measured at 1.5 meters above ground) is a tree at Plas Newydd, Llanfairpwll, Anglesey, Wales and was 9.62 meters in circumference when measured in 2006<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><u>Planting</u></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">In the nursery trade Beech is thought of as being difficult to transplant but as you can see by my example above that it can do well bare rooted, even at quite large sizes if the conditions are right-This fundamental rule goes for all bare rooted trees, <strong>DON'T LET THE ROOTS DRY OUT! </strong>Once they dry their ability to survive the shock of transplanting is greatly reduced, and the longer they are allowed to dry the lower your survival and initial growth rate will be. Root drying is most severe on windy Spring days and I would recommend that for best survival and growth that broadleaved trees are planted out in Autumn when the soil is still warm. The tree can produce new roots before the onset of winter and be in a much better state of establishment than one planted in the Spring.</span><br />
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Another choice would be to grow trees from your own collected seed, collected from good quality local trees this sounds easy but do not underate just how difficult a task this can be. Most of you however will choose this last option of buying your nursery stock from a tree nursery. The best Beech forest in Europe is the Sonian Forest, Belgium which is just to the south east side of Brussels. Nursery trees grown from seed collected from here are with good reason highly sought after. However almost any Beech seed collected from a registered European seed stand will perform well.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TOq_mXLyTUI/AAAAAAAABEg/AEXtxvV4ar0/s1600/Foret+de+Soignes2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" ox="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TOq_mXLyTUI/AAAAAAAABEg/AEXtxvV4ar0/s400/Foret+de+Soignes2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #b45f06;">The magnificent Beech trees of the Sonian Forest also known as the Foret De Soignes, </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #b45f06;">Belgium, note the people at the bottom of the photo for scale. The forest covers </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #b45f06;">an</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #b45f06;"> area</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #b45f06;"> of 4421 hectares (10920 acres) at the start of the 19th centuary it covered more than </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #b45f06;">twice this area Photo by <span class="licensetpl_attr" style="font-size: larger;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/wiki/User:Donarreiskoffer" title="User:Donarreiskoffer"><strong><span style="color: #0645ad;">Donar Reiskoffer</span></strong></a></span></span></td></tr>
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Beech is useful as it is very shade tolerant, you can underplant it beneath trees that cast only a moderate shade such as Silver Birch or even Oak, I have found that the young trees are not attractive to Roe deer which can cause a lot of damage to young trees of many species such as Ash, Wild Cherry, Willow and Douglas Fir. <br />
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<u>Soils</u><br />
Beech grows well on deep well drained loamy soils that are either acid, neutral or alkaline. I have seen it growing very well in limestone areas and I find that it also performs very well on the sandy acid soils that we have here, particularly on the lower hill slopes where the soil is deeper. It does not like poorly drained soils and periods of waterlogging can be lethal especially to small trees. It should also not be planted on very shallow soils that are prone to drying out. Beech is shallow rooted and particularly prone to drought stress.<br />
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<u>Growth</u><br />
This is more of a steady tree with reasonable growth sustained over a long period than than a quick starter. For the first year or two after planting provided your methods of weed control are adequate it will probably grow perhaps between 15 and 40cm/year depending on the size and quality of the planting stock (generally speaking smaller plants survive and grow away better than larger ones) <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TOGDtj2qRkI/AAAAAAAAA_I/_PG4kuxBFfU/s1600/037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TOGDtj2qRkI/AAAAAAAAA_I/_PG4kuxBFfU/s320/037.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">A young Beech tree 4 years after planting as a 1.2</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">meter sapling dug up from the surrounding woods.</span></td></tr>
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Once the trees are established and begining to assert some dominance over the competing ground vegetation the growth rate will speed up to around 40-60cm per year. Beech does not make a good pioneer species of open ground and tends to grow better with some side shelter in the form of what are known as a nurse trees, such as Norway Spruce, Scots or Corsican Pine, European Larch, Lawsons Cypress or Western Red Cedar. The use of these conifers will greatly improve the microclimate of the new woodland for the young Beech trees and they will grow substantially faster due to the presence of the conifers. This has been proven in many trials.<br />
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As the plantation grows and the conifers start to compete with the Beech they must be removed if your aim is to have a pure Beech woodland. I myself prefer a more mixed and diverse forest composition. <br />
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The best broadleaved trees to use as a nurse tree for Beech is Wild Cherry or Silver Birch, these mature at a relatively early age compared to Beech and also only cast light shade. You must be careful especially with the Birch because of it's fast growth rate, that it does not dominate the young plantation. Plantations of pure Beech should be planted at relatively close spacings, certainly under 2 meters apart to ensure plenty of choice of final crop trees of good form and to provide the mutual shelter and competition that they need to grow well in their establishment phase.<br />
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<u>Frost</u><br />
One other consideration is that when they are in leaf, Beech trees are very frost tender, so a late spring frost can severly damage or even kill small to medium sized trees. I have seen well established trees that are 20-30 years old in Cumbria (NW England) killed by a severe late frost in mid may. Therefore Beech trees are best not planted in frost hollows or areas that are prone to late spring frosts. If a mature tree is badly frosted after it has come out into leaf it can reduce that years wood increment by as much as 90%.<br />
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Despite this tenderness to late spring frost they can be a remarkably hardy tree and can be seen growing together with Sycamore in many woods and shelterbelts high on the windswept hills and moors of North Yorkshire (UK) where I spent my youth.<br />
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<u>Pests and diseases</u><br />
In this area, Beech grows really well and is not subject to any damaging pest and disease problems, however in many areas it can be very prone to damage by grey squirrels which gnaw away patches of bark on the trunks and branches of younger trees from about 15-40 years of age. This can be a very serious and damaging problem that can usually only be resolved by trapping. Beyond this age range they are usually less prone to damage.<br />
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The one serious disease that Beech can suffer from is Beech Bark Disease where an infected tree shows dark, weeping tarry spots. This is associated with dense infestations by the felted beech coccus which is a minute sap sucking insect. This combined attack can badly damage or kill trees usually between 20 and 60 years old. Trees that are stressed by drought or by poor site selection are more likely to be affected. Conversly Beech trees that grow in a mixed species woodlands are less likely to be seriously affected Click on the link to find out more. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beech_bark_disease">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beech_bark_disease</a><br />
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<u>Beechwoods</u><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TPtSpslNbUI/AAAAAAAABMk/PdPpsXs28zE/s1600/Beech+estate+Den+Bramel%252C+Bronkhorst+by+Tim+B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" ox="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TPtSpslNbUI/AAAAAAAABMk/PdPpsXs28zE/s640/Beech+estate+Den+Bramel%252C+Bronkhorst+by+Tim+B.jpg" width="476" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">A huge Beech tree at the estate Den Bramel, Bronkhorst, Netherlands. Its girth is 7.4 meters, unfortunatly this tree died in the summer of 2009 due to fungal attack. </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Photo by Tim B. Monumental Trees</span></td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Beech woods are very charcteristic by their long silvery trunks and carpets of russet leaves with a mostly bare woodland floor beneath with very little or no ground flora. Beech trees cast such a deep shade that very little can grow beneath them, this makes them a dominant species that are capable of growing through other trees such as Oak, Sweet Chestnut and Silver Birch, outperforming and eventually shading them out. This heavy shade makes walking through Beechwoods a wonderful experience for us, but not so great for wildlife which thrive when rich ground flora and a shrub layer is present. Holly and Yew are the only species that I have seen growing as a sub species in Beech woodland, but I expect that Box would also grow too.</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TPutDhwJ6rI/AAAAAAAABMs/8qwFXXZMSys/s1600/Philou+Philou.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" ox="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TPutDhwJ6rI/AAAAAAAABMs/8qwFXXZMSys/s400/Philou+Philou.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">The amazing Beechwoods of the Forets de Soignes, Belgium</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">in Autumn. Photo by kind permission of Philou Philou</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<u>Fruiting</u><br />
Beech belongs to a valuable group of trees that produce an edible nut. These are an especially important food reserve for birds and rodents. We too can also eat them although they do contain tannins which carry a slight toxicity if eaten in large quantities. It is possible to press an oil from Beech nuts and they can also be ground into a flour which can only be used after the tannins have been leached out by soaking. <br />
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Beech trees only start to flower and produce nuts when they are at least 30 years old and possibly as late as 80. Trees must first build up their carbohydrate reserves in the previous year in order to produce the flowers that may result in a successful seed crop. It is usual for all the trees in a large geographical area to all crop in the same year. The heaviest crops, known as mast years, only occur after hot, sunny summers and almost never in successive years. If the summer is too cold and cloudy, many if not all of the nuts will be empty, the further north that you are in Europe the frequency of good seed production years decreases.<br />
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<u>Timber</u><br />
Most people of my generation and earlier sat at school desks made from Beech wood. Chosen for this purpose due to it's excellent finishing qualities, hardness and resistance to compression and splitting. It is great wood for gluing, staining and varnishing. It is excellent for flooring manufacture and furniture, in fact almost any woodwork that isn't either structural or outdoors as it has no rot resistance. It is excellent for firewood and wood pulp but straight pieces are potentially much too good to be used in this way.<br />
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<u>Hedging</u><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TPqg9lXMStI/AAAAAAAABMU/6gZBxdVmPhw/s1600/Meikleour+Beech+hedge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="246" ox="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TPqg9lXMStI/AAAAAAAABMU/6gZBxdVmPhw/s320/Meikleour+Beech+hedge.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">The Meikleour Beech Hedge in Perthshire, Scotland is the worlds </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">tallest hedge. Image courtesy of Tour Scotland Photographs.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Beech is one of the very best hedging plants, beautiful at all times of the year, it adds a classic elagance to any garden. Beech hedges have a special feature called marcescence which means that the dead leaves are retained by the trees until the Spring when the new leaves emerge, so the hedge is never bare. The worlds tallest hedge as listed by the Guinness Book of World Records is the Meikleour Beech Hedge situated 18km north of Perth in Scotland, it was planted in 1745, stands 30 meters tall and runs for 530 meters. More information at <a href="http://www.perthshirebigtreecountry.co.uk/index.asp?pg=31">http://www.perthshirebigtreecountry.co.uk/index.asp?pg=31</a> <br />
For myself this is one of my favourite trees and I plant them in preference to any other hardwoods. I find them such a good all rounder with good steady growth, being fairly easy to manage, a beautiful looking tree with good Autumn colouring together with the potential to grow wood of great quality, versitility and value. How can you resist?<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TPoZtzTjH0I/AAAAAAAABLg/WGyY8HZeWfA/s1600/Beech_seedling_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TPoZtzTjH0I/AAAAAAAABLg/WGyY8HZeWfA/s320/Beech_seedling_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">A Beech seedling in it's first few weeks of life, full of future promise. </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Photo by Thue.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040872440673601664noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4960645014526410316.post-28706133358250147012010-12-02T18:59:00.000+01:002010-12-02T18:59:57.608+01:00My Favourite Tree<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here is a short piece before my next in depth post comes out in a few days. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A short while ago I joined the Small Woodland Owners Group (SWOG). They produce a monthly newsletter which includes a feature called My Favourite Tree. As I have many favourite trees and having just been out with my camera I decided to send in a photo of one of them with a few words attached thinking that there would be no possibilty of it making the December newsletter. This morning, much to my surprise I found out that it had been included. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">SWOG is a great little organisation full of useful information for the small woodland owner. Lots of useful advice and the membership is free. You can have a look at the newsletter following this link <a href="http://www.swog.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/NL-Dec2010-final.pdf">http://www.swog.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/NL-Dec2010-final.pdf</a> You can also follow the following link to access the general SWOG website and forum <a href="http://www.swog.org.uk/">http://www.swog.org.uk/</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The photo capture below has lost some of it's original quality and can always be seen in it's full glory in the newsletter. The original photo, along with many others can be seen in my picassa web albums which can be accessed from the link on the top right hand corner of this blog.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TPdwy9VGXsI/AAAAAAAABLI/GhxdOBLG8PI/s1600/Capture+my+favourite+tree.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="325" ox="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TPdwy9VGXsI/AAAAAAAABLI/GhxdOBLG8PI/s400/Capture+my+favourite+tree.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040872440673601664noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4960645014526410316.post-72365024802011718582010-11-17T09:34:00.030+01:002010-11-17T10:04:35.057+01:00Sweet Chestnut Coppice<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TOI7dszNBcI/AAAAAAAABA8/vRoowYQDcFU/s1600/027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" px="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TOI7dszNBcI/AAAAAAAABA8/vRoowYQDcFU/s640/027.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Before I moved here to the Limousin, I had never really seen a Sweet Chestnut tree, in the far northern part of the Yorkshire Dales which used to be my home you just didn't see them. I new of only one tree on a nearby country estate which had only ever fruited once in the glorious summer of 1976. So seeing them here in their glorious profusion, reliably fruiting every year, for me really highlights the climatic benefits of living here in S.W. France compared to 700 miles further North. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">In my locality it is like a weed, springing up everywhere, you cut it down and back it comes - twice as fast as before you cut it and that of course is one of the great qualities of this tree. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Looking at it's success today you would think that it's always been here - a native tree to this part of Western Europe but it's not. This came as something of a surprise to me and I thought that I new about trees! Infact it comes from Turkey and was planted thoughout Europe by the Romans who enjoyed the chestnuts and appreciated the versitility of this tree.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TOI0AnsNSuI/AAAAAAAABAc/T4j_yDS-Mjc/s1600/019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TOI0AnsNSuI/AAAAAAAABAc/T4j_yDS-Mjc/s320/019.JPG" width="240" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">A recently cut Sweet Chestnut stool </span><span style="color: #990000;">showing </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">vigourous and prolific regrowth of up to</span><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: #990000;"> 2 meters in length at the end of it's first </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: #990000;">season of regrowth</span></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>For myself, this ability that Sweet Chestnut has to reliablily keep regrowing each time it is cut down is sheer brilliance. Although it is widely known that many other tree species can be coppiced, few do so here with quite the same vigour and youthful enthusiasm of the sweet chestnut. I have honestly had regrowth exceeding 3 meters in the first summer after cutting, in a woodland situation this same regrowth is already starting to close up it's developing canopy after only 3 years. Compare this to a newly planted woodland, which could take perhaps 8-12 years to reach the same stage- depending on species and planting distance.</div>The length of each coppice cycle varies depending on what is the desired end product. Very generally speaking an established coppice is cut over on cycles of between 10 and 20 years, this will yield large amounts of wood for fence posts, poles for a varied range of uses, some firewood and a large quantity of brushwood which in the past would have been used for pea and bean sticks. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TOOXRt11ERI/AAAAAAAABBk/Jzmpjof4hfs/s1600/sweet+chestnut+coppice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" px="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TOOXRt11ERI/AAAAAAAABBk/Jzmpjof4hfs/s1600/sweet+chestnut+coppice.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">A selection of varying sized material that a short rotation </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Sweet Chestnut coppice can yield.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TOOXmDqVyTI/AAAAAAAABBs/naz4TdeTwIk/s1600/good_quality_coppice_kent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" px="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TOOXmDqVyTI/AAAAAAAABBs/naz4TdeTwIk/s320/good_quality_coppice_kent.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">Sweet Chestnut coppice managed on a 12 year cutting cycle. A </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">different block is cut each year so the supply of wood is almost</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">never ending. Note the regrowth sprouting on the recently cut </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">stools in the forground.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table> Until recently this sort of material wood have been regarded as "waste" and left to decompose (which in my view makes it a long term soil improver and fertiliser and a valuable wildlife habitat for birds and insects and not waste at all). These branches can also be heaped around the cut stools to protect the tender regrowth from browsing by deer, which for me is a real problem. <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">As commercial pressures increase, many land owners are trying to squeeze every penny from their woods. The potential now exists to make this kind of "waste" brash into wood pellets for domestic or industrial heating. Follow the link to this site <span style="color: #0e774a;">www.<b>pellet-mill</b>.de</span> for home production pellet mills priced from only 2200 euros and are claimed to be capable of a production of 100-250 kilos/hour. According to the manufacturers you can also use materials like leaves,grass, paper and cardboard-including the junk mail-now that has to be the best use for it yet!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">For me personally, I prefer a longer rotation of 35-45 years as I am wanting good quality logs to mill into planks with the remainder for firewood. Growing a coppice on a cycle of this time span means that thinning must be done periodically to reduce the density of tree stems. Thinning involves removing the stems that are badley shaped and/or overcrowded, this is to ensure that the growth is concentrated in the better quality trunks. Failure to do this will lead excessively long whippy trees with small crowns, the overall growth and wood yield of the coppice plantation will stagnate and a low value crop will result. </div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TOI94Plp3VI/AAAAAAAABBI/gM4kvNJv0zQ/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" px="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TOI94Plp3VI/AAAAAAAABBI/gM4kvNJv0zQ/s400/007.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">This is a parcel of my neighbours Sweet Chestnut coppice, totally unmanaged since</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">it was last felled over half a centuary ago. All the trees have narrow crowns so </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">growth</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"> and wood increment has stagnated, the stems are long and spindly and only suitable</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"> for firewood and wood pulp- both very low values end uses.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> Here in the Limousin, Sweet Chestnut grows very well, you should start thinning this type of long rotation coppice at around 15 years old followed by a regular thinning every 3-5 years. The first thinning is the most labourious and time consuming as you are removing 35% to 50% of the tree stems, this can seem a little dramatic when you cut it- in some dense patches you get so many logs on the woodland floor there is barely anywhere to put your feet! However after the first summer the canopy is closing up again and you are left wondering if you should have thinned it just a little bit harder! </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div> This first thinning yields a great quantity of branches, and small roundwood and a lot of poles, I mostly cut these into 1 meter lengths for firewood but you could split them for fencing or try making rustic furniture with them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TOI-kem7CSI/AAAAAAAABBM/cAhR-sNd4Nw/s1600/010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" px="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TOI-kem7CSI/AAAAAAAABBM/cAhR-sNd4Nw/s400/010.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">This predomianly Sweet Chestnut woodland was felled 17 years ago and has been </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">totally unmanaged since. It is certainly ready for for the poorer and more overcrowded</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">stems to be removed-one of my tasks for this winter!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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The second and subsequent thinings are much quicker, easier and more productive as the stems are of a larger girth and you have already removed the poor quality ones. At this stage although your woodland is still technically a coppice, but to all intents and purposes like a well managed woodland. </div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TM2rGKnXqII/AAAAAAAAAzs/iPARNyC_N9U/s1600/028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" px="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TM2rGKnXqII/AAAAAAAAAzs/iPARNyC_N9U/s400/028.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">A year ago this looked just like the previous photo. Now with all of the overcrowded</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">and worst shaped trunks removed it looks a lot more promising</span></td></tr>
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Thinning the coppice also has other benefits, the increase in light intensity reaching the woodland floor allows a herb layer to develop which makes it more interesting to insects and birds. The chestnut trees are also becoming mature enough to yield nuts which on these relatively young trees are less prolific but of a good size. Do not however delay picking them for long as the wildlife hoovers them up and stashes them away in no time, then the leaves fall and hide any leftovers.</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> As each year pases, the final felling of the coppice approaches, this final act completes the growth cycle, to delay is not wise as decay will start to invade the base of many trunks. Sweet Chestnuts also have a tendancy to twist with age, you can see the spiral patten in the bark, splitting logs like this results in near corkscrew shaped splits that are a pain to stack and cut. Also the stools become top heavy and more likely to blow over in severe storms, as many of mine did here in the hurricane force winds of December 1999. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> Once they are felled you have not only a sizable amount of wood but the joy of watching the spectacular regrowth that flourishes from each cut stool and the accompanying surge in growth of the ground flora. This coppice cycle can repeat almost endlessly with the coppice stools slowly getting larger and more powerful over the course of many hundreds of years. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TOI5LIofSpI/AAAAAAAABAk/yc4N0InlabI/s1600/030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TOI5LIofSpI/AAAAAAAABAk/yc4N0InlabI/s320/030.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">An example of very overmature coppiced Sweet</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Chestnut. These have such a large canopy that they</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">are in danger of being blown down in high winds.</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">It is a dilema wether to keep them as they are for</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">their beauty or to fell them in stages to allow them</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">to successfully regenerate.</span> </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">One final thing to note that I have noticed, is when really huge Chestnut stools are felled they appear to have a greatly reduced ability to regenerate. These monsters usually have 3 or 4, sometimes 5 or more large trunks, each one perhaps between 30cm and 60cm in diameter, I have found that if you cut all these off in the same year often the stool will only produce a very few shoots or none at all. These isolated shoots are very vulnerable to deer damage and to being split off by gusts of wind, if this happens a huge coppice stool that may have had a lifespan of over four hundred years is lost and belive me it's a sad realisation when you realise that you have needlessly caused this because you were ignorant of the correct cutting techniques for these special ancient trees. </div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> By a process of trial and error I have found that if you cut down around half of the trunks one year, the stools regenerate really well,it is better to cut all the adjacent stems on one half of the stool. New vigorous regrowth will emerge from around the base of the cut trunks, you then let this grow for 2 or 3 years by which time it will probably be 2 to 3 meters in height. Only once this new growth is well established can you finally take down the remaining large trunks on the other side of the stool. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TOI6sIsQTGI/AAAAAAAABA0/6pd0gxj5OP4/s1600/023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" px="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TOI6sIsQTGI/AAAAAAAABA0/6pd0gxj5OP4/s400/023.JPG" width="400" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">Here is an example of an ancient overmature Sweet Chestnut coppice stool, Last</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">winter I have removed the trunks positioned on the front side-which is the side that</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">is exposed to most light. New shoots have emerged from below where the trunks</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">were felled. As you can see the regrowth is not as prolific or vigorous as the photo</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">at the begining of this blogpost. I will leave it at least another year to fell the </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">remaining trunks. You can see a patch of decay on the trunk on the left, a strong</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"> indication that parts of this stool are close to collapse.</span></td></tr>
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By keeping some of the original trunks it keeps the sap being pulled up through the stool and maintains the ability of the new growth to resprout on the cut side. I suspect that as the stool ages it is less able to respond succesfully to the sudden shock that a felling of all the trunks must inflict upon it. So these really old trees need a more thoughtful approach to regenerate them, the problem is that if they are not cut, they blow over really easily, often lifting the entire root system out of the ground. Once this happens they are lost forever because the agricultural system that created them has long since dissappeared.</div></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040872440673601664noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4960645014526410316.post-83775856110792790942010-10-24T07:40:00.033+02:002010-11-08T20:06:16.450+01:00Considerations when planting a new woodlandAs the former owner of a forest tree nursery I have been asked this many times, there are no definitive answers to this question, the best guide that you have got is to look around your local area and see which species of trees are growing well and/or make up the most of the local woodland. This way you do not have to worry about your soil type or climate -nature has aready shown you what will do well.<br />
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<em>natural regeneration of sweet chestnut less than 20 years after this pasture was abandoned. I thinned this area a year ago and removed about half of the less vigorous and poorly formed trees</em><br />
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Also you should have a clear goal in mind, are you planting for wildlife and conservation, or future firewood or timber production. Your main objective could be to screen yourself off from a neighbour or an ugly development, or it could be a combination of all these factors or many others.<br />
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Many people say plant willows, everyone knows that they grow quickly, but really what is the point unless you are a basket weaver or your land is a bog (you have very few other choices in this case), they are of generally speaking little timber, firewood or long term screening value.<br />
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I would imagine that cutting a large area of willow manually as a short rotation coppice for firewood could be mindnumbingly boring. (I find cutting hazel stools bad enough-they are a lot of work for not much wood). An endless supply of small round logs that are difficult to stack and burn away quickly on the fire. Volume production isn't everything when considering what species to plant. I am sure that these are great for totally mechanised woodchip production for biomass.<br />
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Poplars are also often advised, these are certainly quick with 2-3 meters per year possible with some of the newer clones. They have little firewood value but do have a timber value if they are grown and managed in the right way. I must say that a poplar plantation is about as interesting as the highly disliked conifer monocultures but without the winter shelter.<br />
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Another suggestion made by people who are just looking quick wood is the Foxglove tree (paulownia tormentosa) which can be grown to sawlog size in Europe in as little as 8 -15 years. This is a native of China and although its a rapidly growing tree it can also be very invasive. Recent advances in breeding have lead to clones being introduced that can resist temperatures of -15 celsius possibly even -20 celsius. As a wood it is lightweight being around half the weight of oak. It is also noted as being highly fire retardant, so perhaps best avoided as firewood! As a tree it is promoted as not subject to pest problems in Europe, there is a good reason for this-none of our native insect species can feed on it. Pollinating insects however do well as it produces very showy white/pink or purple flowers depending on the species.<br />
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After well over 30 years of looking at woodlands I have come to the conclusion that the best form of woodland establishment is to mimic the way that woodland normally colonises new ground. For example in my area any previously cultivated land that for whatever reason becomes abandoned is rapidly covered by blackberry, broom, silver birch, willow,aspen,alder and hazel.<br />
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Ok, you would be mad to want to plant blackberry and broom but it is easy to see that the birch and the others are colonising species (oak can also colonise grassland too if the conditions are right).<br />
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<em>Oak natural regeneration at 5 years from germination. I'll keep the neighbouring broom bushes under control so that the oak is not crowded out</em><br />
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One the birch starts to gain a little height other tree species start to appear- oak,sweet chestnut, ash perhaps a scattered scots pine or douglas fir and finally beech. These grow better after the site conditions have been made more suitable for them by the colonising species. The colonisers are quick growing but generally short lived so that when they die they are replaced by the secondary species of tree that then go on to make the dominant trees over the longer term.<br />
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The problem is that everyone who plants trees wants it to look like a woodland as quickly as possible. It is my conclusion that you should plant a mix of colonisers planted for there quick growth and the other species that are going to make up the longer term which could at sometime in the future bec<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TM6BC06GjDI/AAAAAAAAA3U/NIymSmxcHxg/s1600/008.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534502877646982194" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TM6BC06GjDI/AAAAAAAAA3U/NIymSmxcHxg/s400/008.JPG" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 400px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 300px;" /></a>ome a valuable asset.<br />
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<em>7 year old self seeded scots pine growing together with sweet chestnut, beech and silver birch</em><br />
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This will however lead to future problems. It is likely that without management the quick growing pioneers will overtop and surpress or even kill the slower growing "crop" trees. So you need to be in there watching and managing your woodland, always keep in mind your long term goal(s) You cannot just let it do its own thing or your not going to get the result that you wan<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TM6BCdMV9jI/AAAAAAAAA3E/Ry_tK9ki-UU/s1600/006.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534502871281038898" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TM6BCdMV9jI/AAAAAAAAA3E/Ry_tK9ki-UU/s400/006.JPG" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 400px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 300px;" /></a>ted.<br />
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<em>Douglas fir that I planted 5 years ago inamongst my hardwoods-naturally regenerated sweet chestnut and ash and planted beech. As you can see I don't tend to plant in rows and prefer to plant in groups between the trees seedlings that arrive naturally. It gives a more natural appearance but does need managing regularly to prevent overcrowding problems. </em><br />
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It doesn't really matter because trees grow slowly don't they? Well they can but they don't have to. Everything that you do from even before you plant the trees influences how fast they will grow and develop. Think of your trees as you would the plants in your garden, if you neglect these and don't give them there optimum conditions they perform disappointingly. The same applies to your trees. I shall try to cover these issues in later posts.<br />
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Finally to the issue of conifers. To many people these are to be avoided like the plague but in my opinion they do have a valuable place in the woods. Firstly as an economic value, last year I felled 2 large douglas fir, 47 years old. They gave me wood to the value of over 800 euro's. Ok I had to fell the trees,extract them and get a mobile sawmill in to process them. But this is in only 47 years, if you grew an oak or beech you would usually need to double or triple that age to get something of a decent value.<br />
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At age 47 an oak can show great promise but not great financial value. I'm not saying lets plant only douglas - private forestry already does more than enough of this around here, but why not plant a handfull or a few dozen conifers inamongst your hardwoods? The birds like them for nesting and winter shelter. They are useful for screening and also add a bit of body to your young woodland during the winter months and can have a highly beneficial nursing effect on your broadleaves. Many species can be removed for Christmas trees. You can think of conifers as a temporary but beneficial addition to your woodland or leave a few for perpetuity like I do.michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040872440673601664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4960645014526410316.post-29835806681762774082010-10-20T07:40:00.026+02:002012-12-15T19:04:54.401+01:00The Ginkgo Trees of St Sulpice Lauriere (87)FrancePictured below are the magnificent Ginkgo trees of St. Sulpice Lauriere in their full autumn splendour photographed during the first week of November.<br />
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They were planted in 1864 during the construction of the Paris-Toulouse railway and are thought to be the finest li<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TNJiWcT3gkI/AAAAAAAAA5w/NLEA3jKTI1c/s1600/Ginkgo+and+st+sulpice+010.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535595029687927362" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TNJiWcT3gkI/AAAAAAAAA5w/NLEA3jKTI1c/s400/Ginkgo+and+st+sulpice+010.JPG" style="float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 400px;" /></a>near planting in France.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">If you would like to purchase seeds collected from these trees, prices and purchase information are to be found at the bottom of this page. </span><br />
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The Ginkgo or Maidenhair Tree as it is sometimes called is a remarkable tree, fossils of related species date back 270 million years. During the time of the dinosaurs it flourished across the world before undergoing a rapid decline with an eventual disappearance from North America around 7 million years ago and extinct in Europe 2.5 million years ago. Even in China where it was discovered there are no recent fossil records and until it was seen by the first westerner in 1690 was thought to be extinct. It is not even certain that wild populations of this tree still exist in china and it may owe it's survival to Buddhist monks who cultivated it in the temple gardens where specimens exist that are thought to be in excess of 4000 years old.<br />
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If you are interested in finding more indepth detail about anything and everything to do with the Ginkgo tree visit The Ginkgo Pages <a href="http://www.xs4all.nl/%7Ekwanten/">http://www.xs4all.nl/~kwanten/</a><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TNJiW815IJI/AAAAAAAAA54/aX9HqR9GN7M/s1600/Ginkgo+and+st+sulpice+012.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535595038420574354" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TNJiW815IJI/AAAAAAAAA54/aX9HqR9GN7M/s400/Ginkgo+and+st+sulpice+012.JPG" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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The history of our ginkgo's in St. Sulpice Lauriere starts in 1864 when the chief railway engineer M. de Leffe invited the imperial prince of Japan to stay at his chateau near Limoges. The imperial prince brought with him 13 young ginkgo trees which M. de Leffe had planted at the newly built station at St. Sulpice Lauriere. At this time the tree was mostly unknown in the West. Of the 13 trees planted, 12 survived -9 male trees and 3 females and have flourished to become such an impressive sight today.<br />
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It is a truly remarkable tree, not only is unlike most other conifers, being deciduous and having very unique broad leaves. It bears fruit that look like apricot coloured plums that have the most powerful stench. It is also highly pollution tolerant, resistant to insect,virus,fungal and bacterial attack. When the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on the 6th of August 1945 the only thing left alive were 6 ginkgo trees, the closest of which was only 1130 meters away from the epicentre of the explosion and they are still alive today a remarkable example of the tenacity of life.<br />
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So if you are ever passing our quiet corner of the Haute Vienne take 10 minutes to pop down to the station in St. Sulpice Lauriere and marvel at these truly amazing living fossils.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TNJiWFyIOVI/AAAAAAAAA5o/Sl-wIE6-yiY/s1600/Ginkgo+and+st+sulpice+008.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535595023640836434" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TNJiWFyIOVI/AAAAAAAAA5o/Sl-wIE6-yiY/s400/Ginkgo+and+st+sulpice+008.JPG" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 400px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 300px;" /></a><br />
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This is the plaque at the station telling the story in french of these trees. If you want to read it in better clarity have a look in my ginkgo album on picasa click on the link on the top right of this blog. <br />
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Infact the plaque below incorrectly states that there are 10 male trees and 2 females. This is wrong, this autumn there are definitely 4 female trees bearing fruit, so therefore there can only be 8 male trees.<br />
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If you would like to try to grow some of these most ancient and fascinating trees you can purchase seeds that I have collected from the trees written about in this blog post.<br />
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<b><u>The seeds are priced as follows.</u></b></div>
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5 Seeds £0.99<br />
10 Seeds £1.65<br />
25 Seeds £2.75<br />
50 Seeds £4.85<br />
100 Seeds £9.00<br />
250 Seeds £23.00<br />
500 Seeds £44.00 <br />
1000 Seeds £80.00</div>
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You can <a href="mailto:michael@treeseedonline.com">email me </a>to discuss and reserve your requirements. Postage costs to the UK and European Union are £1.90 extra.</div>
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The seeds require around 12 weeks of pre-treatment before they will germinate, this is not difficult to do and I include free information on how to do this with every order.</div>
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<i>And finally pictured below, one of the male trees is particularly easy to identify!</i></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TNJsDeYDZqI/AAAAAAAAA6U/BNrR8Sxi7Qc/s1600/Ginkgo+and+st+sulpice+016.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535605698941118114" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TNJsDeYDZqI/AAAAAAAAA6U/BNrR8Sxi7Qc/s400/Ginkgo+and+st+sulpice+016.JPG" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 400px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 300px;" /></a>michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040872440673601664noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4960645014526410316.post-40512537175953734622010-10-19T15:54:00.007+02:002010-11-19T20:17:47.333+01:00How to build a log skidding arch<div>Anyone who has viewed my log arch web album will have seen a piece of equipment almost identical to the one in the picture below. This was made in a weekend by Steve from West Virginia and his friends Ed and Mark.<br />
If you click on the album cover below it will open out into a step by step photographic record of how they contructed this simple but highly effective log skidding arch.<br />
This was of course the inspiration for my own. It is constucted using an engine hoist as the main body, then adding a towbar, an arch structure to support the log and to add ridgidity to the frame and finally a pair of stub axles, hubs and wheels.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO OPEN THE CONSTRUCTION<br />
PHOTO GALLERY</td></tr>
</tbody></table> For my own arch I purchased a 2 ton engine hoist from Carrefour (France) for 189 euro's delivered, 52 euro's worth of 3mm box section steel and a pair of stub axles and hubs from Autow warehouse (UK) for around 60 euro's. I already had a suitable pair of wheels. So allowing for a can of spray paint and a pack of welding sticks it cost me about 310 euro's.<br />
In addition I also bought an arc welder, mask and gloves as I had never done welding before.<br />
So this was my project that taught me how to weld, a skill that has been really useful over the last 2 years. Once you learn a skill like this you find so many applications for it and you wonder why you didn't learn it years earlier.<br />
It is amazing the size of log that you can haul out using a log arch, even with my tiny 12hp kubota I have pulled out 3m lengths of Douglas Fir 70cm in diameter. Although it helps if the ground is not too w<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TL7NqeEc_iI/AAAAAAAAAoY/C_PtOgKCp98/s1600/Bringing+BIG+logs+home+with+home+made+trailer+5thMay+2009+002.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5530083521967488546" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TL7NqeEc_iI/AAAAAAAAAoY/C_PtOgKCp98/s400/Bringing+BIG+logs+home+with+home+made+trailer+5thMay+2009+002.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 400px;" /></a>et and the hills not too steep!</div><br />
<div></div><div>This log had to be pulled up a steep hill to get it home so I added a "back axle" to the log held on with a ratchet strap. It worked very well once I had worked out a technique of getting it under the log!</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>So thanks Steve for putting this album on the web, without it I would never have made my log arch, I would not have learnt to weld, most of my logs would still be stuck in the woods and my fledgling timber enterprise would still be just a dream.</div>michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040872440673601664noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4960645014526410316.post-16785321465885545862010-10-04T17:05:00.019+02:002010-12-13T22:13:08.449+01:00Tree species guide for firewoodHere is a guide to the firewood qualities of each type of tree that we have growing in this part of southwest France.<br />
<br />
Sweet Chestnut.<br />
<em>castanea sativa</em><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TMCIDGbuHeI/AAAAAAAAAp0/XTRXiz2jeCk/s1600/DSCN0521.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" n4="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TMCIDGbuHeI/AAAAAAAAAp0/XTRXiz2jeCk/s400/DSCN0521.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">Sweet Chestnut small roundwood from the first thinning of the coppice at 17 years.</span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">These really need 2 years to dry out properly as they are unsplit.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>This species makes up about 50% of my woodland. This wood must be split to enable it to dry out. If<br />
left unsplit it will take years to dry out even if it is covered. Straight, knot free pieces are a pleasure to split parting easily and cleanly. Old, twisted and knotty pieces can be nearly impossible and it saves a lot of time and frustation if you precut through the knots with the chainsaw. On reasonable sized knots it is best to either steer well clear of them or to go for a split that will run right through the centre of the knot splitting the base of the enclosed branch. The latter is a technique that works well for me. Usable the following winter but larger pieces are better for leaving for the one after! <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Silver Birch.<br />
<em>betula pendula</em><br />
This makes nice firewood. when dry it's light weight and burns well. It must be split within a few months of felling or it will rapidly deteriorate even if kept dry. I guess the bark must be waterproof and the humidity within the wood cannot escape so that the wood that has absolutely no natural rot resistance turns to mush leaving just the outer circle of bark. The basel 50-80cm of a birch tree of any stature is an absolute sod to split even by machine. It is so tough and stringy. Best solution is to cut into short lengths of 30-40cm for splitting. I still sometimes even for these short lengths need the help of the chainsaw to cut a full log round in half. In general the wood is a little stringy and a hand axe or small chopper is a great help for cutting through the last persistant fibres. In a sunny spot it dries very well for use the following winter.<br />
<br />
Beech.<br />
<em>fagus sylvatica</em><br />
A lovely firewood - one of my favourites. Once again it must be split within a few months or it will start to deteriorate becoming mottled (spalted) in appearance as it becomes invaded by fungal colonies. It has no natural resistance to rot so it must be kept dry. It splits fairly easily and cleanly except for the lowest 50-100cm of the trunk. Cut this part into short pieces for splitting. If you take the effort to follow these guidelines it is super firewood. It dries easily for use the following winter and burns well with a good sustained heat.<br />
<br />
Ash.<br />
<em>fraxinus excelsior</em><br />
Widely regarded as the best firewood. When freshly felled it naturally has a low moisture content and lovely white wood. It will dry well even when not split. It is a little stringy at times which can make it a little difficult to split. It is however well worth the effort. Unfortunatly it is only a minor species in this area growing mostly in the valley bottoms on the more fertile and humid soils. The few trees that I have tend to be of great form and are much too good for firewood. I normally use only the branchwood for firewood production. I plant and encourage the regeneration of ash more than any other tree. Please try to do the same if you can.<br />
<br />
Oak<br />
<em>quercus robur</em><br />
Great firewood but it can be quite hard work to produce. Open grown trees are very knotty and these are hard to split. This is easiest to do when the wood is still very freshly felled. Cut through the larger knots with the chainsaw and or cut into short lengths to make splitting easier. Keep the logs dry or the sapwood which is often quite a large percentage of the log will quickly rot away even on split wood. If the logs get repeatedly rained on they produce several types of fungi which are soft and slimy and not a pleasant experiance without good gloves! Small splits will dry before winter but all larger pieces need an extra year or even two to get the full potential from this hot burning, long lasting wood.<br />
<br />
Hazel<br />
<em>corylus avellana</em><br />
Don't overlook this as a source of firewood. The wood dries well without splitting and burns nicely. Hazel is a quick growing species that coppices readily and will provide with a good crop of round logs and kindling if cut every 12-20+ years. As this grows as a dense cluster of stems make the first cuts at about 1m above ground until all the stems are felled and cut up. Then with the chain saw horizontal, cut through the top of the stool to cut free all the 1m legths that are still attached to the it- of which there can be well over 100 individual stems. This technique taught to me by my old french neighbours greatly reduces the danger of kickback caused by the guide bar tip touching the crowded stems.<br />
<br />
Lime<br />
<em>tilia platyphyllus and cordata</em><br />
It's wood and it burns when it is dry is about all you can say from a firewood perspective. Don't make an effort to aquire or produce firewood from it, but if the tree has to come down use it.<br />
<br />
Fruit tree wood<br />
<em>Malus and Prunus species</em><br />
These burn well but are usually a pain to split especially with old knotty trees<br />
<br />
<br />
Willows<br />
<em>salix species</em><br />
Found growing on damp or boggy soils. We have a lot of this, I have found this to be a better than expected firewood. It dries well both split or unsplit. It burns a bit quickly and therefore I would never sell it to anyone. We burn it at home as well as all the other odd left over pieces of wood, the horrid knotty bits, partly rotted logs etc. and find that they all burn and heat the house pretty well.<br />
<br />
Wild Cherry<br />
<em>prunus avium</em><br />
One of my favourite trees so I never cut them down unless they are almost dead or they blow over. The wood burns well but should be split first for drying. Any good straight stems should be planked and used for something better than burning!<br />
<br />
Sycamore and Norway maple<br />
<em>acer pseudoplatanus and acer platanoides</em><br />
Easy to split and burn pretty well. They are both only very minor species in this area so I don't get to cut a lot of either.<br />
<br />
Conifers<br />
<em>abies, larix,picea, pinus,pseudosuga etc. species</em><br />
I have used many species of conifers for firewood and have found that they burn fairly well, but quickly. They have a more open wood structure and therefore dry more quickly than hardwoods. For splitting I always cut them into short pieces about 30-45cm in length and always split around the knots.michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040872440673601664noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4960645014526410316.post-66081045760440129122010-09-29T23:21:00.011+02:002010-10-07T09:56:46.172+02:00Firewood<div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TK17VdTK32I/AAAAAAAAAOg/JS61tbtSdBM/s1600/DSCN0480.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525207926425968482" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TK17VdTK32I/AAAAAAAAAOg/JS61tbtSdBM/s400/DSCN0480.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div>If you start to manage a woodland it almost certainly means that some of the trees will have to be felled. It makes sense to remove the trees that are poorly shaped or overcrowded to give more space to the trees that are of better form and have the potential to grow into quality timber. Therefore you need to do something with the wood from the trees that have been felled and firewood is an obvious solution.<br /><br /><div><div><div>I always fell the trees after the leaves have fallen during the winter months. This way it causes less disturbance to the wildlife especially nesting birds. It is also too hot here during the summer months for chainsaw work. I find that even in winter within a few minutes of starting to cut I am down to my T-shirt. So I stop felling in early April and then spend 3-4 weeks bringing all the wood that has by now been cut into 1 meter lengths out of the forest and to a clear open area where the logs will later be split and stacked. It is essential that this is a sunny spot where the breeze can blow through to dry the wood. If the split wood is not stacked in the sun their is no chance that it will be dry enough for it to be burnt the following winter. </div><br /><div>For the last 10 or so years I have split all my wood by hand using a combination of steel wedges and a 2.5kg log splitting axe. I could generally split about 1 cubic meter of wood per hour this way. If it was knotty oak it wood take a little longer or if it was nice straight sweet chestnut it could be done in as little as half an hour. I found that a session of up to 2 hours was about right for me and I split about 130 cubic meters in total during April and May of each year. Splitting this volume of wood by hand however did lead to the development of very painfull tendonitis in both elbows and forearms. It had got to the point where I had to mechanise the wood splitting or cease production. </div><br /><div>Not having much cash for investment I looked around for something a little different to the usual log splitting equipment. On Ebay I found a rotary wood splitter called The Stickler (www.the stickler.com)which is bolted by means of an adaptor plate onto the back hub of almost any rear wheel drive vehicle. It costs around $279 and $130 delivery to France, although this was discounted by $50 as they were offering free delivery in the U.S. at the time.</div><br /><br /><div></div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.thestickler.com"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522618785127395170" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TKRIhmVq72I/AAAAAAAAAJ0/O3J2fZV6IyA/s400/DSCN0186.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div>The Stickler in action using my battered 1993 Toyota Hiace as the muscle power</div><br /><br /><div>With this extremly efficiant tool I was able to split over 200 cubic meters of wood over the course of 4 weeks working 3-4 hours per day. The cost of this was around 60 litres of red diesel but I saved myself a great deal of fatigue and physical damage. With the help of a second person the wood could have been split much quicker. I lost a lot of time getting the logs to the splitter and then stacking the splits. The finishes log piles are then immediatly covered with plastic sheeting to keep the rain out. This way with our usual hot summer the wood is ready to start being d<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TKnnK6eA-lI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/Cb5Ozif9ZYM/s1600/DSCN0482.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 2px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 2px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524200592626481746" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TKnnK6eA-lI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/Cb5Ozif9ZYM/s400/DSCN0482.JPG" /></a>elivered during August to my loyal group of customers.</div><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TK1757TqqZI/AAAAAAAAAOo/LTfcnc9s69A/s1600/DSCN0486.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525208552956406162" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TK1757TqqZI/AAAAAAAAAOo/LTfcnc9s69A/s400/DSCN0486.JPG" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>Part of a finished wood pile, this one represents about a quarter of the total firew<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TK1757TqqZI/AAAAAAAAAOo/LTfcnc9s69A/s1600/DSCN0486.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 7px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 13px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525208552956406162" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TK1757TqqZI/AAAAAAAAAOo/LTfcnc9s69A/s400/DSCN0486.JPG" /></a>ood split for this year</div><div> </div><div> </div></div></div></div></div>michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040872440673601664noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4960645014526410316.post-37738143387877839582010-07-28T00:00:00.008+02:002010-07-28T01:34:35.198+02:00What's wrong with forestry today?<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TE9sAOfgk1I/AAAAAAAAAJM/TssBOYp0Oms/s1600/DSCN0331.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 402px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498732421188719442" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TE9sAOfgk1I/AAAAAAAAAJM/TssBOYp0Oms/s400/DSCN0331.JPG" /></a><br /><div><br /><div>I took these photo's today, close to where I live and it is an absolutely typical example of the type of forestry that is practiced around here and in so many other places too. This piece of woodland was a very prominent landscape feature and now it has been felled it is even more eye catching to the many thousands who drive past it each day.</div></div><div> </div><div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TE9nbaQOZ1I/AAAAAAAAAI0/VjwYVXXirTk/s1600/DSCN0333.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498727390644168530" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TE9nbaQOZ1I/AAAAAAAAAI0/VjwYVXXirTk/s320/DSCN0333.JPG" /></a> </div><div>From counting the growth rings this wood represents over 70 years of growth since it's last clear felling. It appears to have been completely unmanaged and by consequence has grown into a low quality, low value crop with virtually all the timber being sent to the local pulp mill where it has a value of around 19 euros per ton. An entire human lifespan to produce an almost valueless product. But it didn't have to be that way. Just a little bit of periodic management to thin the overcrowded trees and remove those of poor form would have concentrated the growth potential in the remaining better trees, which could of then grown on to be of a high enough quality for saw milling and be worth 10 to 20 (or even more) times as much. Still taking the same 70 years to grow and mature. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /> </div><div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TE9ofvjlr4I/AAAAAAAAAI8/AcXSoTbbLCA/s1600/DSCN0337.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498728564593635202" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TE9ofvjlr4I/AAAAAAAAAI8/AcXSoTbbLCA/s320/DSCN0337.JPG" /></a>Large areas of woodland should never be clear felled. A forest is a living entity that modifies the soil it grows in, moderates temperature extremes, reduces windspeeed, increases humidity, greatly reduces rainfall runoff and many many other additional beneficial factors as well. When it is felled, in a moment all this is lost. It becomes a micro climate of extremes. Today it was baking hot and it was as if the whole site had been sterilised. There was not a bird, beetle,bug or animal of any kind, absolutely devoid of all life. You could then step from this into the part of the woodland which still remains (for the time being). It was like walking through a door from one room to another - totally different in every way. There surely has to be a better way than this to manage our forests.</div><br /><div></div><div><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TE9rEdr_InI/AAAAAAAAAJE/gMxCXLLySII/s1600/DSCN0336.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498731394475434610" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TE9rEdr_InI/AAAAAAAAAJE/gMxCXLLySII/s320/DSCN0336.JPG" /></a> So what is the future for this wood? Well as long as it is not cleared for housing or agriculture it will eventually recover. Already some of the cut stumps were showing signs of life. The regrowth is surprisingly quick. The sweet chestnut can grow up to 3 metres in the first year here after being felled. Although this soon slows down, within about 20 years it will look like a wood again. Without management it will soon once again become overcrowded, dark and spindly and slowly as the years roll on, edge ever closer to its next brutal low value clear fell</div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div></div></div></div>michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040872440673601664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4960645014526410316.post-79504185827393374612010-07-25T23:13:00.011+02:002010-12-09T21:21:02.745+01:00How it all beganThis is an introduction to give you some idea as to how I came to be here doing what I am doing.<br />
It was 1996, Life was stuck in a rut, repetitive job, long hours for not much reward. I was fed up of Britain, house prices were already out of reach and it seemed that we would be renting forever. We also had a baby on the way so life was about to change, so why not make it a big one and change everything.<br />
<br />
So we went to a French property show in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Harrogate</span>, couldn't believe how cheap properties were in the Limousin. We could have a house and barns and lots of land with a monthly mortgage payment way less than what we were renting just a house for in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Cumbria</span>.<br />
I only had enough spare cash to do one property finding visit. This was also my first time in France, and so I struck lucky and agreed to buy the second property I visited.<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TQE3sJGFGlI/AAAAAAAABOk/tfez5HLAMgg/s1600/Ginkgo+and+st+sulpice+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TQE3sJGFGlI/AAAAAAAABOk/tfez5HLAMgg/s400/Ginkgo+and+st+sulpice+002.JPG" width="400" /></a>In August 1997 the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">mortgage</span> was arranged and the place was ours(and the banks) It consisted of 2 houses in need of renovation, 2 large barns and 27 acres of land, mostly treed and badly neglected and <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">spread over 46 separate parcels. After half a dozen week long renovation visits during the following </div>winter we arrived here permanently in early June 1998 with all our possessions packed in a van, a 9 month old baby, virtually no money, no job and not a word of French- even to me this now looks a little foolhardy when I see it written down.<br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So what, I asked myself could I do to earn some money here. This is how I got started producing firewood both for ourselves and to sell. I had only once before picked up a chainsaw, I did a weekend chainsaw course run by the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">BTCV</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">somewhere</span> around Newcastle when I was 18. The course was great however at the end they showed an old Forestry Commission Video of <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TK1yP28We7I/AAAAAAAAAOU/FiTAemmc6NA/s1600/DSCN0096.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525197934625717170" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyYZgCEso7Q/TK1yP28We7I/AAAAAAAAAOU/FiTAemmc6NA/s400/DSCN0096.JPG" style="float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 400px;" /></a>chainsaw safety and accidents which scared me to death and resulted in me not picking up a chainsaw for another 15 years.</div><br />
So I was now in the situation where economic <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">necessity</span> forced me to conquer my fear of self preservation and so I <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">acquired</span> an old, late 1970's <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Stihl</span> 08 which is all metal and weighs a ton. Little by little trust was built between man and machine and a great partnership resulted. I now have a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Husqvana</span> 365 which is a beautiful machine, powerful, productive and solid but not too heavy.<br />
<br />
So I began to make a start on my woods using a basic principle to remove the poorer and overcrowded trees to give space to the better ones so that they might realise their full growth potential. So this my first ever posting in my very first blog gives you a little background to what will unfold in the posts that will follow. Hopefully a few of you will find the adventure interesting and worth following. I refuse to believe that I am the only tree mad person out there!<br />
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Thanks for looking -Michaelmichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040872440673601664noreply@blogger.com4