'Tree down' is a message that I hear quite often. It's not surprising with over 300 acres of mixed woodland and heathland to look after. I always find it interesting, especially when spring is in the air, as it takes me to different corners of the commons and each situation is different. Not so much fun when its cold, wet and windy.Today was a spring in the air day so it was good to be out doing things amonst the trees. I spotted the moon peering down through the birch canopy in the wan sunlight.
Some trees only take a few minutes to clear whilst others can take weeks. Not all fallen trees are cleared. Where they fall across paths, access tracks or on our 5 miles of stock fencing then we clear them swiftly.In the restored heathland areas fallen trees will enrich the soil and encourage more competitive non-heathland plants to invade. So here we take as much as possible away, but on the edges of the woodland its good to leave some dead or fallen trees which also increases the diversity of habit on the site.
In the latest gales a couple of small birch trees fell on the fenceline. One of the trees had basal rot and snapped off. In falling it hit the second tree and pushed it down onto the fenceline.
It didn't take long to clear these two trees from the fence, open the path and tidy up. There were a couple of straight sections from the butt with interesting rot so I threw them in the back to try turning, although they might be too knotty to be worthwhile. The rest of the timber was stacked in a neat pile to await later collection for our firewood stack next year.
After another couple of jobs I loaded up with firewood, maybe for the last time this year, and then it was time to go home. The short wheelbase landrover (a 1965 SIIa) is perfect for all these jobs. I like to run it open all year without sides or window tops as its much easier to jump in and out and grab tools. As a result its very light, doesn't leave deep ruts or get stuck but I do get some strange looks in the depths of winter.
1 comment:
Why doesen't anyone make a car like that anymore? I suppose the answer is that the suburbanites wouldn't buy it. Got to have style, no ground clearance (guaranteed stuck in a 1 cm snowfall, but never mind, it looks cool). Four-wheel drive? What's that? Fix it yourself, i.e. simple? Horrors! Me, Stockbroker Sam, get grease in my fingernails? Never! I must end this rant before I get indigestion. Love your Landies.
Post a Comment