Last Sunday the snow started to fall and kept falling for most of the morning with a thick covering by lunchtime. It was the sort of snow that stuck to everything, including the branches of the now bare trees. As often happens when it is actually snowing, the temperature was not that low and in fact the snow as very slushy and beginning to thaw later in the afternoon. It felt as if the snow would go as quickly as it came and we would be clear again. But overnight on Monday there was a deep frost with the temperature at -4oC, giving the thawing snow a crisp feel and welding it to all that it touched.
As I drove to the wood there were many examples of branches that had snapped under the extra loading of the ice and now littered the roadside. Fir trees seemed to be particularly susceptible. I guess that is the consequence of having branches with needles year round. They had caught the original snow fall and looked beautiful but then as the snow partially thawed and the refroze the weight on the branches became too much and they snapped off. It is amazing to think that something that looks so fluffy and innocent as it falls as individual flakes can become a real threat to well established and healthy trees.
The main picture at the top of the blog shows some damage much closer to home in Pop’s Wood. Sadly over the years a number of mature beech trees in the wood have died and I am advised that this is a result of changing ground conditions. Beech trees love to be on well drained chalky soils and so when the ground becomes a bit heavier or holds the water they become stressed and eventually die. The latest to succumb to just such a process. For reasons I don’t understand yet the ground around the tree has become water logged and the tree, that is in excess of a hundred years old, has simply “drowned”. When I discussed it with the the wildlife trust people they said that the best thing was to leave it as standing dead wood as this would encourage insects and in turn support various birds.
I guess part of that process is that the tree continues to decay and weaken and this week a main part of the trunk broke away and fell to the ground. Whether this was as a result of the severe frost I don’t know. Leaving the tree as standing dead wood is fine as far as supporting wildlife but raises the question as to how safe being underneath the tree is as it continues to decay. I may well revisit the decision to leave the whole tree standing and see if it would be more sensible to trim off the main branches and simply leave the trunk. In the meantime I will process the fallen wood and store for potential firewood and making into charcoal.
More next time…….
Tim Burr 