Forest Research draws up canker plan

Forest Research is to develop guidance on managing and drawing up controlling strategies for the bleeding canker tree blight, reports Horticulture Week.
“This disease has rapidly become widespread throughout Britain over the past five years,” said a representative for the research arm of the Forestry Commission.
Bleeding canker of horse chestnut was caused by the bacterium Pseudomonas [...]

Planting trees amid chaos of war

In the Tree Garden of Kilravock Castle is what looks like a giant octopus, says Steven McKenzie, a reporter for the BBC News website.

Called a layering beech, its limbs snake out from a sturdy trunk and bend to the ground where they have taken root before twisting skywards.
More than 300-years-old, it is classed as “extremely [...]

Welsh woodlands to fight climate change

Climate change experts from across Europe will be seeing how the Welsh woodlands are already helping to alleviate the effects of climate change, says a press release from the UK Forestry Commission.
Researchers in Wales are putting in place exciting new ways in which the forests can help prevent flooding as well as locking away millions [...]

Bleeding cankers continues to take its toll

The avenue of 43 horse chestnut trees at Barrington Court, near Ilminster, in Somerset is being cut down and replaced with a variety of oak, the Telegraph reports.
The National Trust decided the trees had do go for safety reasons, following an infection of bleeding canker that causes the trees to lose bark and branches and [...]

Twiglet: Trees and roots

First thing to emerge from a seed is the embryonic root – the radicle.

In most plants, this primary root will develop secondary or lateral roots that grow out away from the main root as the plant grows.

The growth of any root is dependent on a small ball of dividing cells just behind the [...]

UK to set tougher timber measures

From the beginning of April, only certified timber and timber products will be able to be used on UK government properties and projects, according to a press release from the UK Forestry Commission.
The material will have to originate either from independently verified legal and sustainable sources or from a licensed Forest Law Enforcement, Governance & [...]

Twiglet: UK woodlands and forests

The social and environmental value of woodlands and forests in the UK is estimated to be in the region of £1bn, states a postnote from the UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology.

Once, most of the UK was covered in woodland but the cover was gradually depleted as the demand for timber, fuel and agriculture [...]

Landmark agreement for England’s trees

The Forestry Commission and Natural England have joined forces with more than 100 organisations, representing woodland owners, forestry businesses, conservation and local communities to create a new five-year action plan for trees and woodlands in England.
A press release from the Forestry Commission said that the ultimate goal of the new partnership was to deliver a [...]

Weller in the woods…

“Modfather” Paul Weller has announced a series of gigs in spectacular woodland locations across the UK this summer as part of Forestry Commission Live Music 2009.
The commission, in a press release, goes on to say:
Described as both the ‘modfather of rock’ and ‘Britpop’s elder statesman’, Paul is ultimately acknowledged by the media, fellow musicians and [...]

Sudden oak death hits UK national park

Restrictions have been introduced on visitors to the New Forest National Park in southern England after the discovery of a plant and tree-killing disease, the BBC News website reports.
Sudden oak death (Phytophthora ramorum) was discovered in a small number of rhododendron bushes along one of the park’s trails.
Visitors have been told to stick to pathways [...]