When did you last press a plant?
The Clones have landed
Clones often get a bad press. Multiple identical copies of the same individual are seen as undesirable, vulnerable to diseases, unlikely to survive. Yet our woods are full of them (and so are many gardens). Clones are simply groups of individuals that are all identical genetically. When a daffodil or bluebell forms a new bulb… Continue reading The Clones have landed
Ellum she hateth mankind…
And with good reason, given the way we have spread elm disease across continents. There was a big elm tree at the top of our garden by the road, elms in the adjacent hedge, and a couple of other small clumps on our boundaries when I was boy. I remember Dutch Elm Disease appearing in… Continue reading Ellum she hateth mankind…
A century of the Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission has always been a strange beast. Formed in response to war-time timber shortages in 1919 it long retained something of a military hierarchy in its structure. It was a Civil Service Department that also became one of the country’s biggest landowners with all the practical responsibilities that go with such an estate.… Continue reading A century of the Forestry Commission
A visit to Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park was one of the places that kept coming up through my career, as the first U.S. national park; as one of the key examples in the rewilding literature because of the re-introduction of wolves; and as the site of devastating fires in 1988 (or were they just what the park needed). So,… Continue reading A visit to Yellowstone National Park
The answer lies in the soil, but what is the question?
Foresters are often accused of just looking up at the trees and ignoring the ground flora around their feet – ‘stepover’ plants. Yet how often do I think about what is going on below the flowers, herbs and ferns that I am recording in my permanent plots, down in the soil? Being aware of soil… Continue reading The answer lies in the soil, but what is the question?
Too much of a good thing?
In experiments in greenhouses and gardens woodland plants grow better with more nutrients. More nitrogen for example may help them survive better under dense shade, because the plants can produce larger leaves and capture more sunlight. In the field additional nutrients can be a disadvantage to some of the woodland flora. The plants may be… Continue reading Too much of a good thing?
