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In: feature

Today is April Fool’s Day. Perhaps the most famous April Fool’s Day hoax of all time involved trees.  Viewers of a BBC Panorama programme in 1957 were told that due to a combination of favourable growing conditions and a fall in the population of the spaghetti weevil, there was aContinue Reading

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In: feature

Trees provide us with many miracle cures, most famously aspirin from the willow and the cancer-busting drug taxol from the yew. However, they can also affect human health negatively. Pollen from the silver birch, Betula pendula, is the second most severe allergen for people in the UK. Late March isContinue Reading

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In: arboriculture, feature, forestry, silviculture, trees

The ability of a tree to heal itself quickly following pruning is important as it reduces the risk of infection, reduces the impact on tree growth, and improves the quality of its timber. I’ve written previously about how to prune a tree and if you follow these guidelines correctly, theContinue Reading

Percentage Forest Cover in Europe by country 2010

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In: feature, forestry, policy

I wrote recently that the UK had the second-lowest forest cover of any country in Europe (see post).  More specifically with 12% forest cover the UK has the same forest cover as the Republic of Moldova.  Ireland and the Netherlands are equally the least-wooded countries in Europe, each with 11%Continue Reading

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In: feature, forestry, health, science

Chronic oak decline, acute oak decline, sudden oak death … there is widespread public concern about the health of the nation’s flagship tree species. What’s the difference between these diseases and what causes them?Continue Reading