twelfth night…

This time we managed to catch the ‘new style’ Gregorian calendar twelfth night, which means we can got out and wassail again on the Julian calendar ‘Old Twelvey’. Hurrah! In the meantime I must track down a calendar for the back of the kitchen door, (update – picked one up from Frank P Matthews on our last visit to collect an order).

The trees in old orchard continue their slow decline; the trunks are now forming useful nooks and crannies. Much ivy is in evidence, fallen branches and fruit are left to rot in-situ. The undergrowth is left to do its own thing with occasional removal of brambles to avoid the area becoming impenetrable.

Out in the shelterbelt we have done some intended clearance. Back in winter 2011, we took an order of whips from our county council to begin planting a shelterbelt to protect the newly planted orchard. We are situated on the side of a gently sloping SW orientated valley. The dominant wind direction in the UK is also SW. Hence the shelterbelt. The bundle of whips included ash. These had been imported from the continent to a local tree nursery from which the council sourced their hedging offering. Unbeknownst was the additional import of ash die back disease caused by a fungus called Hymenoscyphus fraxineus.

For the last decade we have been managing the impacts of this, which means the proactive removal of diseased and dead ash tree limbs, coppicing to the base where necessary. Some of the trees show no sign of the disease; we hope that these are more resistant, and it is important to retain them.

The dead ash wood shows delicate patterns of a boring beetle, probably Hylesinus sp. I’m hoping these insects are providing food for the woodpeckers.

Reading this week: The Green Road into the Trees by Hugh Thomson