Silent Running (1972)

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In: feature, forestry

Trees have often taken a starring role in films and movies. Here are three of my favourite: a modern block buster, an animated masterpiece, and an underrated science fiction classic.Continue Reading

Robin's pincushion gall - Diplolepis rosae

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In: feature, nature, photo, trees

Cecidology – the study of galls produced on trees and plants by fungi, insects, or mites Most children have played games with oak apples (e.g. they’re great in a slingshot!) but few kids, or adults, realise that an oak apple is not a natural part of the tree, at least notContinue Reading

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In: feature, nature, recipe, trees

The grey squirrel is perhaps one of the most commonly seen of British mammals being highly visible in parks, gardens and woodlands.  This, in combination with its large eyes and bushy tail, often make it an attractive and popular animal in the public eye. Grey squirrels are, however, a seriousContinue Reading

Elder and farm machinery HDR image

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In: feature, trees

Trees are beautiful to the eye but their smell is often overlooked. I don’t mean the obvious showy flowering trees but the hidden olfactory wonders in leaf, bark and seed. Here are my favourite Fragrant trees, and some less popular Odiferous trees. Fragrant trees The fresh needles of the EuropeanContinue Reading

Forest of Dean plantation

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In: comment, Our Forests

Planting more of the same ‘native woodlands’ that now litter the English countryside with little more ambition in their creation and management than a membership publicity drive or community engagement excercise, will be regretted long after the PR-masters behind them have past. In their own way, these are as regrettable as the dark satanic rows of conifers that were planted sixty years ago.
If we continue to plant green fuzz across our food-producing fields, with little concern either for the impending need to be more self-sufficient in food production, or for the need to reduce our enormous reliance on timber imports, Britain’s environmental credibility will be increasingly undermined.Continue Reading

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In: arboriculture, forestry, science, trees

Many people are interested in how big a tree’s crown will grow. It can be important in planning gardens, managing street trees, forest silviculture and in assessing the health of ancient trees. Estimating tree height is very imprecise as it is dependent on so many different factors.  However, I wroteContinue Reading

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In: nature, photo

Here in the south of Britain we’ve experienced our first substantial rain for many weeks, following the driest April and May since meteorological records began.  During a particularly heavy shower while I was in the woods today, I took shelter under a beautiful sycamore tree.  Looking up I discovered thatContinue Reading

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In: art, feature, trees, wood

“Walnut is without the question the most beautiful wood on earth, ranging from the colour of honey to the rich depth of chocolate-brown, often marked with smoky swirls and streaks of pigment from dark brown to black. The grain can be perfectly straight, elegantly swept, or a festival of waves,Continue Reading

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In: news

Thanks to the amazing tools from Google Translate, I now offer built-in automatic translation of www.GabrielHemery.com in no less than 37 languages; from Albanian to Welsh.  I hope that this broadens the international readership of my blog by appealing to more non-native English speakers.  If I’ve missed a language pleaseContinue Reading