Karen PickellNov 26, 2022
Tim Smalley

Today is the start of #NationalTreeWeek in the UK.

It’s the start of the planting season, which is from the end of November until March.

#trees planting is frowned on by some who favour only natural regeneration, but there’s a place for both if planting is done to complement & reconnect smaller fragments of ancient #woodland on a landscape scale.

It can have a massive positive impact on biodiversity as seen at Heartwood #Forest in St Albans.

Here’s an image from there.

#photography #nature

Nov 26, 2022 at 7:44pmWeb
Show threadPaulNov 26, 2022
@timsmalley yep, the context is so important
Show threadTim SmalleyNov 26, 2022
@paulcox it is… the butterfly study at Heartwood has seen populations increase by around 400% at last memory, in the 13 years since the first of the 600,000 native trees planted there to reconnect five small fragments of ancient woodland, including species that are very rare or have never been recorded in Hertfordshire.
Show threadHikerSelmaNov 26, 2022
@timsmalley
I wish the US had a whole week to celebrate trees and reforestation. We have one day, Arbor Day.
Show threadTim SmalleyNov 26, 2022

@HikerSelma In all honesty, if we only had a day celebrating reforestation, but made the progress we need to make, the week-long celebration would be just that, rather than a cry for action.

The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries, & we have been in a state of deforestation for about 20yrs. Government misses its own restoration targets by a country mile, continues to strip nature protections from legislation & is happy to pump raw sewage into our rivers. It's literally a shit-show.

Show threadHikerSelmaNov 26, 2022
@timsmalley
That is sad. My only direct experience of the UK has been coastal walks in Cornwall. Have recently become aware of the sewage dumping issue.
Show threadTim SmalleyNov 26, 2022
@HikerSelma a fabulous place to start. The Cornish coast is epic. I used to spend my childhood summers split between Penzance and St Ives, Ilfracombe in Devon and Poole at the start of the Dorset Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.
Show threadHikerSelmaNov 26, 2022
@timsmalley
The coastal walk started in St Ives and ended on the Lizard. An all time favorite trip. When you explore on foot like that you feel part of the landscape. I loved St Ives and although Penzance is so much larger I loved it also esp for the gardens. That where I first saw a real thatched roof. On my second coastal walk I continued from the Lizard to Falmouth. Instead of heading to London I took the train to historic Lyme Regis and did get a taste of the Jurassic coast.
Show threadTim SmalleyNov 26, 2022
@HikerSelma Ahhh, the coastline from St Ives to Lizard is stunning. Highlights for me along that route are Botallack, Cape Cornwall, Nanven, Mousehole, Kynance Cove and then Lizard Point. Lands End is stunning, but over-commercialised - I much prefer the wild views from Porthcurno/Logan Rock.
Show threadAndyNov 26, 2022
@timsmalley creation of a mosaic of habitats requires all the regenerative and diversity tools we can access. Planting is an essential part of what we need to do.
Show threadTim SmalleyNov 26, 2022
@ajad_d I completely agree. That looks like a pretty epic sunrise going on in the background?
Show threadAndyNov 26, 2022
@timsmalley red sky at night?! Pouring now
Show threadTim SmalleyNov 26, 2022
@ajad_d ha ha 🤣
Show threadShield MaidenNov 26, 2022
@timsmalley I know there has been a lot of tree-planting in some areas, but also that many of them have died due to not being watered or due to this summer's heat/water shortage. I wonder whether an "adopt a tree" might work, with people walking up to see theirs with a couple of litres of water...?
Show threadTim SmalleyNov 27, 2022
@Judeet88 yes, a lot will have struggled last summer. It is perhaps an option for families, but I know the logistics around specifying exactly where tree dedications were planted (down to a What3Words location) at the Woodland Trust were pretty difficult. The scale was such that they couldn't say exactly where the dedicated tree went (other than the site where it was planted) as there are upwards of 5 million trees going in the ground each year. . . .
Show threadTim SmalleyNov 27, 2022

@Judeet88 . . . .The struggle is that, depending on the size of the site and the planting event, there may be upwards of 1,000 trees being planted on any given day and perhaps 50-60k planted in a season on just one site. While plant passports have got better, the passport generally ends at the planting site without significant additional overhead.

As the trees are planted very close together (science reasons), it would be difficult to navigate to individual trees without damaging others.

Show threadShield MaidenNov 27, 2022
@timsmalley Yes, it's fraught with problems. I've done some random planting of acorns here and there whilst out walking, where other oaks are already doing ok...and have 3 trees in my very small terraced house garden.
Show threadTim SmalleyNov 27, 2022

@Judeet88 btw, here's something I hadn't seen before... it's the sapling survival rate by species at Heartwood, 1 year after planting. There were 2 years left to plant at this point, so the data is based on approx 500k saplings.

Ash is the main anomaly due to chalara ash dieback being discovered on the site in 2012. It's pretty effective at killing young saplings - in some cases it can take a matter of weeks for the disease to rip through a sapling's water transport system.

Show threadShield MaidenNov 27, 2022
@timsmalley It's good to find actual stats...so, it's not as bad as I've been thinking...what year is the chart from?
Show threadTim SmalleyNov 27, 2022

@Judeet88 The ethos at WT when I worked there was always right tree, right place, cared for in the right way. The goal was to build resilient woodlands.

However, if you've followed HS2 at all you'll no doubt know that pretty much the whole 1st wave of their 'mitigation' planting died as it was planted badly & not cared for. It would have been quicker to run over them with the bulldozers they used to destroy ancient woods. The outcome would have been the same. Hey ho, it'll be 15 mins faster :)

Show threadBlue HeronNov 27, 2022

@timsmalley I am not in the UK but I do love a nice tree!

#NationalTreeWeek #Trees #NaturePhotography

Show threadvwpiper 🇺🇸 🏳️‍🌈Dec 3, 2022
@timsmalley we purchased our house that is on a very small lot some 30 years ago. I immediately planted a few oaks and other trees. Today I’m so happy I did.