Tree Frontier News
A newsletter that helps keep you abreast of interesting facts and information from the world of rboriculture and related industries
May is the final month of Spring and with it, the last of the trees to come into leaf have finally got there.? One of the more notable aspects of leaf burst this year has been the very late flushing of ash.? While ash is a late flushing trees, it seems that this year it has been particularly late, in part perhaps due to the weather conditions.? Reports seem to suggest that the weather patterns for May have been within normal parameters for the amount of sunshine, rain and temperature – this in spite of what our internal mechanisms may suggest after a gloomy start to the year.? In spite of the late flush to ash trees, another observation we have made it how many trees appear to be in better condition than might be expected given the ongoing issue with ash dieback.?
Now that the ash trees are in full leaf, this is a good opportunity for owners to go out and look at their trees and to take a visual assessment of condition.? While our general advice is to retain ash where possible, sometimes removal is the only option, but this decision should be driven by the overall condition of each specific tree, and not simply be it is an ash that “might” be a future problem.? Tree diseases continue to be on the radar, with the Forestry Commission having reported new cases of Oak Processionary Moth in Derbyshire, and Spruce Bark Bettle in East Anglia.? The good news in the ongoing battle against tree pests and diseases has been the announcement of ￡4million of funding for the expansion of the UK Forest Research facility at Alice Holt.
VR experiences to educate the future generation
The Yorkshire Arboretum has launched virtual reality experiences to bring alive the economic damage caused to forests and woodlands caused by the Great Spruce Bark Beetle. Using cutting edge technology, it is helping to build awareness of tree health threats to future generations.?
English Oaks could thrive against climate change
The Universit?t Wien in Austria has examined 69 of the most common European tree species to test which would cope with climate change into 2100. The English Oak was one of the only species to thrive under current and future conditions, a positive outcome as it has a high importance for timber production, carbon storage and biodiversity. But many other well known species will struggle, depending on how quickly climate change advances.??
A global tree conservation launches with Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
A ceremonial planting of six ‘dinosaur’ trees has marked the launch of a new partnership for global tree celebration. Coordinated by the Botanic Gardens of Sydney with 34 botanic gardens around the world, the critically endangered Wollemi pines are hoped to safeguard the species from extinction.?
New British Standard is out for review
The British Standard BS 8640 provides guidance on structural and supported soils for trees in hard landscapes. This covers soil properties, volume and depth, placement and installation and trees species selection. This standard is now open for public comments until 23rd June 2024.
Justice for the Sycamore Gap tree felling?
Two men have been charged with criminal damage to property “without lawful excuse, damaged a sycamore tree to the value of ￡622,191 belonging to the National Trust ”. They also face a second charge of damage to Hadrian’s Wall.??
The cost of the damage was assessed using the Capital Asset Value for Amenity Trees (CAVAT) tool used by local authorities to work out the cost of replacing a tree. This considered several factors including economic and social damage, described as “serious distress”.??
Watch the video or click the image below?https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/ENpH7HIS
A small dose of nature goes a long way
A scientist who has studied how the urban environment affects our wellbeing has found that those who live near parks, canals and rivers (or any green space) are less likely to struggle with mental health issues. One of the main findings from the Urban Mind project was that the smallest of green spaces can lead to improvements in mental wellbeing over time. Access to trees, birdsong and nature has been seen to have an impact.??
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Long term risks to BNG in a new report
The UK National Audit Office (NAO) has reviewed the biodiversity net gain (BNG) scheme, discovering that elements to contribute to its success haven’t been put in place including methods of compliance and whether local authorities would be able to enforce the policy.??
BNG Guide Published
The guide provides a simple 'how to' guide on England's first phase of mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain. While the guide is?primarily for CIEEM, IEMA and CIRIA members involved in BNG and is likely to also be useful for planners, developers, architects, engineers, landscape architects, local planning authorities and land managers.?
Funding to improve UK biosecurity
Biosecurity minister, Lord Douglas-Miller says “We are committed to protecting the country’s tree health and maintaining biosecurity to ensure our trees and woodlands are resilient?to fight climate change”. The government has ￡4million in funding to go towards a new research and containment facility in Surrey, aiding the management or tree risks such as Emerald ash borer and the spruce bark beetle.??
New rules for hedgerows in England
New laws have come in, applying to hedgerows on all agricultural land, regardless of whether the landowner received government funding or previously received the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). The CLA provide their view on the impacts of these changes.
Tree Frontiers News
New Case Study: Commercial Development in Chipping Campden
In early March were delighted to hear that our client (Wigwam Storage) had obtained planning consent for 78 storage units on a site in Chipping Campden. We assisted from pre-application stage all the way through to providing documents to assist with discharging tree related planning conditions. While a relatively simple scheme, with trees around the borders of the site, maintaining habitat and screening vegetation was a critical part of the project objectives.
First Aid Training
We took the opportunity to attend a local training provider First For Safety Oxfordshire Ltd (First for Safety) along with a local conservation architects James Mackintosh Architects (James Mackintosh Architects), to undertake some first aid training.? Not only did we achieve a 100% pass rate, we even managed to take advantage of the weather undertaking most of the training outside.
Human Library - Marlborough School
At the start of May we attended a careers event at The Marlborough Church Of England School in Woodstock. We continue to advocate and promote arboriculture as a career choice and managed to speak to approximately 120 pupils. We undertook a little experiment, asking pupils whether they were aware of tree related careers before the event. Only one responded with a 'yes'... It appears we have much more work to do to raise awareness of a very rewarding sector.
Tree of the month
Our focus of What tree this month has its latin name sake associated with a Celtic God, as well as being one of the UKs largest trees and is often found growing on well-drained, sandy soils. Find out what tree we are shining a spotlight on this month here:?