Does your tree hydration bag fail to empty?

I’ve been using the same Tree Hydration Bag for ages and this year its stopped emptying on its own. This is probably due to the fact I have filled it with river water and bits of detritus have clogged it up from within… Or microbes and wood lice etc have gunked it up from below. Anyway, do not despair, you can still carry on using them, just pin prick the base to start the flow again but make sure the new holes are from underneath rather than from the side as it will discharge the water horizontally instead of down into the soil by the rootball if not. Also, if your bag is on a slight slope, prick it up the slope so the water then runs towards the root system.

You can carry on using these bags for years with a little intervention of this kind, a great way to water trees, whilst also providing rabbit and herbicide protection as well as suppressing weeds.

   

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Having leaf issues?

Every year is a challenge for a tree!

The animal kingdom has evolved around the plant kingdom and leaves are predated on by mildews, blotches, insects, birds, grazing mammals and even us. Without leaves supporting the huge array of animal life dependent on them for their survival it is likely our species would not be here today. So a few aphids or caterpillars, mildews or scabs are a very natural and balanced event in the overall scheme of things. However, some things can get out of hand. Crab apples for example can suffer terribly with a fungal apple scab which can pretty much defoliate a tree and make them look miserable all season long. Malus floribunda and Malus Tshonoskii are particularly susceptible so we major on scab resistant clones such as Malus Rudolph and Evereste. Black bean aphid can easily mount up huge populations on cherries with their leaves distorted and sucked dry to shrivelling point. At this time it is all too tempting to fall back on a chemical solution to kill the pest causing the problem but beware, this sort of intervention can also wipe out predators just as easily. Ladybirds thrive on harvesting aphids but the population of the pest has to grow before the predator can react to balance out the problem.

In our experience, intervention breeds more intervention with trees so if you can leave them to their own devices so much the better. If you go in with a spray too early in the lifecycle of the pest the balance between predator and pest can never be reached and you will have a dependency on chemical control that may not helpful to the environment. This advice is all well and good until you are faced with an eyesore in your own garden so it is ultimately your judgement call!

The longest day is soon upon us and a tree’s physiological responses are already thinking of the autumn soon after this point. By September a deciduous tree is ready to jettison its leaf canopy in a few weeks anyway so it stops protecting itself from mildew attack. Looking at this from the tree’s point of view, there is little point in investing in a leaf that is due to fall off soon. With this in mind the late summer leaf canopy can look tired but there is no need to worry, it is likely it is the natural swing of things.

Each year will bring different challenges but over the long term trees will endure most things that nature can throw at them and support our ecosystem in the process.

         

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Trees for paddocks

As you may have read in the last couple of years, there is now new research that highlights Sycamore trees (Acer pseudoplatanus) as the cause of Atypical Myopathy, a mysterious and often fatal illness of grazing horses. The emergence and increasing occurrence of this illness has resulted in many sycamores being removed, and sadly a significant number of horse deaths in the UK. People are quite rightly now sceptical about planting trees in paddocks and the potential dangers that this may cause.

Being someone who has been into horses all my life, and indeed knows trees, it was a surprise to me when they were highlighted as being so dangerous and it is this which does mean you do need to exercise some caution when deciding what to plant in paddocks near grazing horses.

So, here is a little more information for you, to help you make some suitable species choices for your paddocks:

In most cases for paddocks, people are looking to provide some shade for the horses with the trees, and as such, given its robust nature, previously I would have recommended Ash, a hardy native tree that seem compatible with planting in paddocks. The emergence of Ash die back (Chalara), which has reduced Ash numbers in the UK has meant Ash is now off the menu, as in order to limit the spread of the disease the government has prevented the movement of Ash so are unable to move and sell them anymore.

Further to Ash Sycamore would always have been a good choice for speed of growth, hardiness and shape, however Atypical Myopathy has removed this option from the list too!

So, we look harder….. There is some research that identifies other members of the Acer genus which are safe to plant;

Acer campestre (Field Maple), which is found in the hedgerow and Acer platanaoides (Norway Maple) are both useful options for paddocks and do not contain the harmful Hypoglycin A. If you would like more information, this link highlights this research in detail: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jvim.13927/epdf The summary on Page 1 – most significantly the section entitled “Conclusion and clinical importance”.

With the above in mind, in addition to Acer campestre and Acer platanoides (and their cultivars), the following are worth considering:

Poplar

Populus tremula (Trembling Aspen) – Poplars cope with wind, waterlogged ground, and are fast growing and fairly spreading. They can produce a whitish fluffy seed in the spring, but I have not known this to cause problems and I do have friends that have them in their paddocks.

Populus alba (White Poplar) – Similar to the above with attributes, however this tree has a silvery white underleaf.

Alder

Alnus glutinosa (Common Alder) – this is a fast growing, water loving tree that will tolerate exposed conditions. It works very well in the wet but has a more pyramidal shape than the Poplar so perhaps is not so wide from a shade point of view, that said they do not produce any seeds or anything that would cause trouble. It will also perform well on “normal”, more well drained ground.

Willow

Salix alba (White Willow) – Willow love water, so are useful in wet areas, they will become a wide and spreading tree that you can be easily pruned and managed. The bark of Willow has some medicinal qualities, so horses do seem to quite like eating it, which should not cause the tree too much damage, so long as it is the branches rather than the main stem. You may need to keep the horses off of the bark, as if they strip the bark of these the trees will struggle.

Salix alba Tristis (Weeping Willow) – More spreading, will weep fully to the ground, which might not be so appropriate from a shade point of view, so will depend upon where you would like to plant them.

Slower growing trees that will be the right shape for shade eventually (and be large)

Fagus sylvatica (Common Beech) These are a slow growing native tree that is large and spreading at maturity. This tree can reach over 20m in both height and width. It is likely to be a component of most native hedging (maintained to be smaller). Best planted on free draining, lighter soils than clay. If you have clay, and would like a tree with these qualities,

Carpinus betulus (Hornbeam) is the one to go for, see below. Carpinus betulus (Hornbeam) Similar in description to the above Beech, will form a large, spreading tree at maturity. This tree can reach over 20m in both height and width. It is likely to be a component of most native hedging (maintained to be smaller). Thrives on clay soils, if your soil is lighter, please opt for Beech (above).

Maples mentioned in report/link above

Acer campestre (Field Maple) Often found in hedgerow, this tree will form a Medium size tree that will tolerate most conditions, although will not like to sit on very wet ground.

Acer platanoides (Norway Maple) Comes in a variety of colours, is fairly tough and forms a larger and broad crowned tree, will not like to sit on very wet ground.

This species list is not exhaustive, and should you wish for more options, discuss further or book a site consultation, please do not hesitate in contacting myself or a member of our team.

         

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Always trees!

Sometimes you just want to get away for a break with the family but work always follows you with trees!

Walking back to our room last night I was hit a glancing blow on the back of my shoulder by a coconut. It started its descent from over 20 feet up and if it had smacked me on the head it would have been a different story!

So I did a freebie assessment on them today and advised the hotel to harvest the crop as soon as possible after seeing that’s what left to fall is numerous, huge and overhanging a pedestrian path.

What are the chances? A coconut to fall on a tree grower from England?!!

         

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Biosecurity update

We formalised our strict biosecurity policy six years ago after it become very apparent that imported trees were responsible for several new pests and diseases in the UK, primarily Oak Processionary Moth and Ash Die Back. As far as we know we are the only tree nursery of our type that doesn’t trade stock direct from Europe for resale and immediate despatch into the UK landscape.

Much of our initial starter stock is home grown, raised for us as one year seedlings. These trees come with audit trails of providence and have never been outside of the UK. We also collect seed ourselves to grow on, please see the following link to a recent blog on how and why we do this. We grow these on as one year seedlings into 5lt pots in our triple span polytunnel and then plant them into our field unit the following autumn to grow onto the finished sizes associated with our production.

This is fine for our native range of trees that originate from seed but much of our range also includes budded/grafted trees such as clonal variations of Crab Apple and Cherry as well as other highly ornamental non-native trees such as Ginkgo, Liquidambar and Paulownia. To have these available for the UK market we have to import starter stock from European nurseries that we have known and dealt with for over twenty years. The stock is inspected in the summer before importation and checked for vitality and quality. It is then revisited and sample tagged in the Autumn prior to delivery when it is registered with DEFRA who then inspect at our nursery. The trees are then inspected again by DEFRA over the next growing season to check all of our trees are free of pest and disease. To back this up we also engage Bartlett’s Tree Experts to vitality test our stock through electrolyte leakage , chlorophyll content and leaf florescence.

We do not release any of our new production trees until September 1st each year even though they are rooted and ready for despatch before this time. This gives DEFRA time to complete their inspection cycle. None of these practices are mandatory but instead they are self imposed by us to ensure a bio-secure stock. We also risk assess our range and decide to stop certain lines where the risk of importing a problem is too high. In this regard we do not stock Olive, Bay Laurels or Cork Oak. We have taken a significant financial hit imposing these practices as our competitors continue to trade stock without pause.

Importing trees for immediate resale is a massive problem and we have been lobbying hard to try and change this practice which inevitably leads to importation of new pests and diseases into the UK. This is the industry norm and in our view has to change! I have attached our biosecurity policy and please also refer to another blog, this time highlighting the new threat of Xylella fastidiosa: Are plants safe to import?

     

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Which British native tree is often overlooked?

January and February have got to be the dullest of horticultural months! Not a lot to get excited about apart from the promise of the Spring.

I walked a local park to me on the weekend and saw a tree that is often forgotten as one of our prettiest natives, Sorbus torminalis the Wild Service Tree. I think one of the main reasons it is underdone is that it’s a devil to grow and transplant as a young tree in a nursery. It grows with a coarse carroty root system with very little fibrous root so reacts very poorly to containerization or transplanting. We found this out several years ago when we lost a beautiful crop from the field when we lifted them bare root for container production. We now take them root balled from the field and at a smaller size with far more success. Once we have captured the root system and established it within one of our Light Pots they become as reliable as any other of our trees.

Another reason why availability of this tree is so sparse is because a batch grows as such random rates. Some put on four feet of growth in one growing season with a non-branched leader going up like a rocket whilst others grow just a few inches. It you want uniformity this is not the tree for you but for leaf shape, flower and autumn colour it has so much to offer. We have pretty much sold out of these for this season and the next medium size crop won’t be available until autumn 2019. We will have smaller ones grown from seed available in 5lt pots for this autumn at about one metre tall.

If you want a medium sized Sorbus torminalis our advice is to get your name on one early. They are rare to see but worth the wait!

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Exciting development at Barcham!!

                                               BARCHAM PLANS FOR ARBORETUM


Barcham Trees, the Cambridgeshire nursery which has provided more than a million instant-impact trees for the urban environment in Britain, has been given the go-ahead by East Cambridgeshire District Council Planning Committee for the development of an arboretum, lake, visitor centre, restaurant and shopping area on part of its 300-acre site adjacent to the A142 between Ely and Soham. This unique and exciting development will create up to 40 new jobs.

The company, which is the largest container tree nursery in Europe, had support from a range of interests, including East Cambridgeshire’s tourism office and Soham Town Council. A report by planning officers stated there are no directly comparable visitor attractions in the area and that such a facility could only be beneficial to the local and tourist economy.

The focus of the 17-acre development will be a 12-acre arboretum, which Barcham’s managing director Mike Glover believes will fulfil several roles. “It will be aesthetically pleasing, educational, practical and a showcase for both our trade and private customers. We are the first major tree nursery to see such a facility as part of its remit, and our knowledgeable staff will be on hand to share their expertise with visitors. We see this as a natural extension of what the nursery does, which already includes the education of tree-care professionals and involvement with setting arboricultural industry standards”, he says.

The site will also include a lake, visitor centre, restaurant, conference centre, plant centre, shopping area and 150 formal car parking spaces, plus overflow parking. The nursery’s arboricultural director and chairman of the Arboricultural Association Keith Sacre emphasises the development will demonstrate best practice from its beginning through to completion and beyond. “More people than ever now appreciate the huge benefits trees provide for human health and the environment in general, and we are determined the arboretum will be a beacon of sustainability”, he comments.

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What price for biosecurity?


The tree and plant industry is waking up to the threat biosecurity has on our countryside and cities. The following video explains principles that should be adhered to combat this threat, principals we have already in place and followed for a number of years. Barcham Trees is the only nursery of its type with a strict biosecurity policy in place and this video, with interviews from leading figures within the industry, urges others to catch up.

Please click HERE to watch

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