Here’s a brilliant use of coppiced Hazel and Willow, a friend is now making a variety of baskets, the original bag for life!

One of our on going projects is removing Ash trees infected with die-back from a local woodland. We started over winter and it’s lovely to see the change to the woods as the trees begin to flush with leaves and blossom and the woodland floor is carpeted in bluebells.

Always feel lucky to be working outside with trees and sometimes get stopped in my tracks with how lucky. While working in local woodlands yesterday having to remove an ash tree suffering from ash-dieback, the landowner pointed out the wild orchids growing between the bluebells, what a lovely place to work in the spring sunshine.

Not a native tree but widely planted in Britain especially in private gardens. Unusual and exotic looking with gracefully twisting and arching limbs, a light and airy crown and variety of different coloured textured barks. Unusually eucalypts add a layer of bark every year and the outermost layer dies. In about half of the species, the dead bark is shed exposing a new layer of fresh, living bark.

Surveying this Elm today

Was given this lovely tree guide, essential to have a good reference book, you’re always learning when working with trees.

I love the sweet chestnut tree , large serrated leaves, silvery twisting bark in mature trees and of course , chestnuts! This one on site we are working at just beginning to break bud and flush with leaves.

We pruned this boundary hedge a few months ago and it’s just started to reflush, planted as whips 10 years ago it is a mix of hawthorn,field maple and blackthorn which provides food and habitat for many species as well as a living boundary to the property.