Trees & Tree Health

Putting Pruning in Context
In this article Andrew Cowan questions some of the basic principles of arboriculture, tree care and cultivation. He considers pruning, questioning its benefit and the impact it might have on a tree’s physiology and ecology. He also raises some questions about the long term impact of pruning and the need to appreciate the natural life span of trees.
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Inonotus hispidus
This fungus is quite often found on fraxinus excelsior, although it can be found on other broadleaved trees.
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Piptoporus Betulinus (Razor Strop Fungus)
The picture shown is of a young fruiting body. The fruiting body starts as a ball, with a light brown mushroom colour, then it expands into a kidney or hoof shape bracket with a white underside and a light brown leathery top surface.
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New Life in Appledore
The Giant Redwood Wellingtinia, Sequoiadendron giganteum that stood in the churchyard at Appledore was a striking focal point of the village, set as it is in the flat countryside of Romney Marsh in Kent
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Trees on Development Sites
Supplementary Planning Guides – A Hymn Sheet for all?
Alister Rankine looks at Supplementary Planning Guides, their place in the planning process and wants these Local Authority-led publications to become more readily available
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Chicken of the Woods
To add to the knowledge of pre climbing inspection for young or new climbers I will write a series of short notes on things to look out for, from some of the decay fungi through to, and including, bark, timber characteristics and other things that we can all overlook that are all very important to our safety.
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Pollarding at Slimbridge
I was recently able to accept a long-standing offer to visit the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Head quarters at Slimbridge in Gloucestershire. The offer, made at the SALTEX show last year by Julian Edmondson, the Horticultural Manager at Slimbridge, invited me to see their pollarded willows and to highlight their 60th anniversary. I was told that they were doing some interesting things with them. I was not disappointed!
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Bleeding Canker in Horse Chestnuts
There has been much written the press recently about the threat to our Horse Chestnut trees from bleeding canker. The following short article provides an overview of the disease and the limited control methods applicable.
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The Tallest Tree in Britain
SCOTLAND has regained a national record after a Highland tree was re-measured and found to be the tallest in Britain. A Douglas fir at Powys Castle in Wales recently measured at 62.5 metres (205ft) high was thought to be the tallest tree in Britain, overtaking a Douglas fir in the Highlands, which was measured in 2003 at 62 metres (203ft).
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