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Plant of the Day
Saturday 29 March 2025
Just before ‘bud burst’, when the new leaves emerge, it will be time to prune the stems of Cornus sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire' (dogwood) to encourage new growth that has the brightest colours for next winter.
Jill Raggett
Who’s been collecting crabapples and making fairy cider in the stool of this 700yr old ash tree? ✨🍏🧚✨
April Landscape Photography Review 2025
April Awakens: Coastal Walks, Bluebell Woods, and Fields of Gold April 2025 stirred the South East into life. From misty bluebell dawns in the High Weald to windswept beaches at Rye Harbour, the month was a patchwork of light, colour, and seasonal shift. I explored new paths and returned to familiar ones — chasing moonsets, scouting rapeseed fields, and tracking spring’s quiet arrival through…
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i believe a while back you mentioned that certain trees benefit from being cut but i cannot find the post? could you elaborate on that bc im Fascinated (curious eyes emoji)
That's coppicing! Funny you mention it actually, the next biome research post I'm gonna make (in the style of the moorland one) is British forests. It's not only good for an individual tree, coppiced woodland is like moorland in that it's an anthropogenic area that becomes extremely important for several animals. Butterflies, bluebells, nightjars...
But I'm getting ahead of myself. To coppice a tree, you cut it down to its stem, and then allow it to sprout back for a number of years. The length of time depends on the species and purpose you want the wood for. You can make perfect, straight poles for tools, beams for construction, bundles for firewood...
A coppiced tree does not die of old age. They can live forever, and produce wood for GENERATIONS. No need to clean-cut and devastate a woodland!
What's good about coppiced woodland is that it leaves the canopy clear. Clear canopy = sexy, sexy understorey. Lots of sunlight comes through which allows the growth of low-laying plants and berry bushes, lots of places for animals to eat and hide.
Downside tho is that if you don't come back and manage your beautifully coppiced grove, you will end up with a thick canopy of trees all the same age, blocking out the sun. That's bad. You're gonna see a recurring theme in all of this research that a TON of biomes in the UK REQUIRE human management and have really been suffering without proper stewardship.
Basically, coppicing without ongoing human management just results in a plantation (derogatory) with extra steps.
Lake cats did a lot more coppicing than modern Clan cats. Modern Clan cats don't really have the tools to cut hard trees like beech and hornbeam; they can only manage softer, thinner ones like birch and alder with their claws and stone tools. It's a lost art.
Coppicing, a traditional forest management method dating back to the Neolithic period, involves periodically cutting trees to the ground level, taking advantage of their ability to resprout. This technique allows for cyclical harvesting of wood, providing a stable supply of firewood. Despite its decline with the advent of fossil fuels, there has been a recent resurgence in coppicing for its benefits to biodiversity and as a sustainable fuelwood source.
Jim Cable | © Harry Lawlor | Financial Times
From the Neolithic to the beginning of the twentieth century, coppiced woodlands, pollarded trees, and hedgerows provided people with a sustainable supply of energy, materials, and food.
High-tech thinking has permeated the minds of (urban) environmentalists to such an extent that they view biomass as an inherently troublesome energy source – similar to fossil fuels. To be clear, critics are right to call out unsustainable practices in biomass production.
However, these are the consequences of a relatively recent, “industrial” approach to forestry. When we look at historical forest management practices, it becomes clear that biomass is potentially one of the most sustainable energy sources on this planet.
In the book Another Kind of Garden, the methods of Jean Pain are revealed. He spent his entire short
In the book Another Kind of Garden, the methods of Jean Pain are revealed.
He spent his entire short-lived life studying brush land and forest protection, specifically fire prevention, alongside his wife Ida. These studies led to an enormous amount of practical knowledge for composting, heating water, as well as harvesting methane, all of which are by-products of maintaining a forest or brush land with fire prevention techniques. While this knowledge is applicable in many instances, it is worth remembering that the root of all of this knowledge lies in forest preservation.
All of the activities described below are by-products of that process. The book goes into detail with the economics of such an operation. I will focus on the applications...
