Veteran sweet chestnuts

The Ancient Tree Hunt is a collaboration between the Woodland Trust and the Ancient Tree Forum which aims to map all the 'ancient, notable and veteran' trees in the UK... a big undertaking but an interesting one, not least because people are getting out and thinking about all the big, old, lovely and/or important and culturally significant trees they know.

http://www.ancient-tree-hunt.org.uk/ 

I've recorded trees before, whilst working as a seasonal ranger. And after spending a rainy Sunday at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, collecting data for tree surveys for college work, I added two of the biggest sweet chestnuts there to the database.

One is by the pond, with nesting birds in holes and a great stag-headed quality to most of the larger branches. 

The other, perhaps more noticeable, is the big old tree standing on the corner of the rock garden - right alongside a well-travelled path from the East Gate down to the south. This one lost one of three large limbs during recent storms, and has a huge wound that looks great - it tells a story and gives an indication of the tree's life history. I hope that at least some people stop and think twice about this tree - about how it is a living being far older than any person in the world, about what it has 'seen' in its life and about what it means to preserve trees like these.

Coronet cuts

I did my first coronet cuts (more 'natural-looking' cuts that simulate a tear or snap on a branch) on a southern beech (Nothofagus) at work this week. It was hidden away in a small copse-like part of the garden, so my boss asked me to reduce about four 'large' dead limbs (to reduce the weight and prevent them falling on a fence below) but leave a couple of feet for habitat.
I've never been shown how to do it, but I've seen photos and heard descriptions, so thought I'd give it a go at ending the 'stubs' with coronet cuts. Here's some of the results:

They're probably not as good as guys who've been doing them a while, and I know they're only a small branches, but for me a step in the right direction - this kind of work is part of what I'd like to do. And it was good to be doing them in a Botanic Garden, somewhere where I never thought they'd want "untidy" looking coronet-cuts... luckily this tree was hidden away enough to get away with it.

Apple trees and lichens

Been at a Scottish Orchards event today (http://www.scottishorchards.com/)... it made me think of these pictures and the countless others that I took of the old apple trees (and the lichens on them) in an old orchard where I used to work.

Temple Newsam's sweet chestnut

A few pictures of a beautiful, ancient sweet chestnut pollard from the Leeds City Council-owned Temple Newsam park. Whoever decided on the management of this tree made the right choices - reducing the limbs in to reduce the lever-arm stress on them, and fencing off the tree to discourage people from being near it. I doubt it will fail any time soon anyway - it's so short and squat, and so well-established that it's probably going nowhere - but by keeping people away from under it, the risk of harm is even lower. Again, another example of brilliant tree management, maintaining ancient trees for their cultural significance and the biodiversity benefits they bring.

The afterlife of a tree

Spotted this tree (or its remains) walking down from the Merrick in Galloway Forest Park.

Collapsed co-dominant stems? Or something more sudden - possibly a lightning strike?

Either way, a wonderful testament to the ability and importance of trees, even after they have died. How many epiphytes grow on this structure, how many bats, beetles and other animals call it home, and how many detritivores and fungi has it fed?

And furthermore, it is as awe-inspiring as any man-made sculpture.