This article is from the PROARB magazine, to see it on their site please visit them HERE The House of Lords debated the threats posed by pests and diseases to native trees in the UK on Thursday 13 February. The Arboricultural Association has said it welcomes this debate. Stating that it is important to recognise that the arboricultural industry is equally as concerned with the threat posed to ‘non-native’ as to ‘native’ species. It particularly welcome the contribution of Lord Framlingham, who used his time to demonstrate the importance of utilising Arboricultural expertise. A President of the Arboricultural Association from [...]

The Rural Start-Up Fund Forest Holidays, partners of the Fund, are passionate about sustainable rural tourism. Ensuring resilient communities and a prosperous local economy means supporting the people living and working at the very heart of the rural sector. This is why Forest Holidays and The Prince’s Countryside Fund have teamed up to create The Rural Start-Up Fund, an exciting opportunity for rural businesses to receive financial support as they embark on a new business venture. One of the biggest barriers to setting up a new business is the initial financial demand, and this, coupled with the challenges of working [...]

We received information from the NCFed to pass on to all our members, if you have any feedback please contact Bob Hewitt our NCFed rep who will coordinate any responses. 1. There will be a National Coppice Week 2020. Thanks to everyone who got involved last year. Dates will be 17-25th October, launched at the Gathering and AGM. NCW was successful enough in 2019 to suggest that it has potential to work effectively for the groups and NCFed. Please ask your membership to save the dates and begin to think about what they might fancy doing. Also to consider other [...]

Last Thursdays group meeting held at Warnham Nature reserve was presented By Clive Cobie, fellow woodsman, environmentalist story teller and all round good egg, Although technical issues presented a problem with the projector, Clive's presentation was based on his recent schools woodland theatre project at a Primary school in Pulbrough, Backed up with a timelapse video of site  preparation and the creation of the theatre area with his 360 digger, re turfing and tree planting the theatre area, The main aim of the project is to educate and encourage kids at a young age to get involved with learning about [...]

This news item is from the Pro-Landscaper magazine The Environment Bill will be introduced today (30/01/20) following its return to Parliament after the General Election. The Environment Bill is said to help ensure that we maintain and improve our environmental protections as we leave the EU. Measures will be introduced to improve air and water quality, tackle plastic pollution and restore habitats so plants and wildlife can thrive.   The Bill will ensure that this government – and future governments – are held to account if they fail to uphold their environmental duties. This includes meeting net-zero by 2050 and wider long-term legally binding targets on biodiversity, air quality, water, and resource efficiency and waste [...]

Palmstead plant day by Bob Hewitt 22.01.2020 The Palmstead plant day is an annual event organised by Palmstead nursery Ashford Kent, now in its 11 year, attracting keynote speakers from the wider horticultural industry, This year Keynote speakers were Tony Kirkham obe, Dr Debbie Bartlett (SSCG) and John wire Forestry Commission, plus other respected Horticultural practitioners, The event was held at the Ashford international Hotel and sold out to a target audience of Landscape architects, specifies, designers, contractors, estate gardeners, industry and local authority decision makers along with the industry trade press. The theme of the conference was called planting [...]

Hello everyone and welcome to the wonderful leap year of 2020, we have a lot planned this year so I thought I would just share some dates with you. All of them are in the Events Calendar but get out your diary and make a note of these as it's always great to see as many of you as possible at all of the events. Members meetings: Firstly Bob H. has put together some dates for the members meetings, these are held at Wareham Nature Reserve and are open to all members and people who would like to come along [...]

What a wonderful day. We all met up as the day progressed in Shadow Woods and huddled around a fire that never stopped producing amazing food, overseen by Beth and Wayne. It was great to see so many people there including some brand new members who came along for the first time. I don't think we ever stopped talking and sharing stories and ideas with one another, the atmosphere was just perfect. The Highlight for me was Clive's walk and talk around the woods. He shared so much information about what we were seeing, historical features, historical sites and the [...]

Oak lace bug (Corythucha arcuata) An insect pest which attacks oaks, the oak lace bug can reduce growth and weaken trees. With number of other diseases already affecting oaks, the arrival of the oak lace bug would pose a serious threat. The oak lace bug is named after its delicate appearance. Quick facts: Common name: oak lace bug Scientific name: Corythucha arcuata What does it affect?: oaks and sometimes maples Areas affected so far: not currently in the UK Origin: North America What does oak lace bug damage look like? Symptoms include: Spots of colour loss (chlorosis) on the upper surface of the leaves appear [...]

The following is an article of interest from the Pro Landscaper online magazine, to read the article in full click HERE James Hewetson-Brown, managing director of  Wildflower Turf ltd  explains what biodiversity net gain is and the impacts it will have on our industry. Biodiversity loss is up there with climate change as an issue to concern us all. Economic models, such as Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics recognise the loss of biodiversity as an economic disaster. If present indifference to the biodiversity loss continues, she argues that this will undermine our future economic development on a worldwide scale. The message is an urgent need [...]

Tree health news and biosecurity action from across the sector - An article by the Tree Council, to read the report in full please click HERE November 2019   UK tree health continues to be a rapidly evolving space. On 25 October, the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee called for a ‘citizens’ army’ to tackle the growing threat from invasive species, estimated to cost Britain’s economy £1.8 billion a year. The Committee called for trained volunteers to help identify and respond to biosecurity outbreaks, modelled on a system developed in New Zealand.  The report called on the Government to: Train a ‘biosecurity citizens’ army’ of 1.3 [...]

You may not have seen the BBC news article on Tree planting by the various political parties, below is taken from their website but can be read in full at the BBC HERE The political parties have been promising huge increases in tree planting in their election manifestos. The most eye-catching is Labour's plan to plant two billion trees by 2040. Impossible, some say - that's more than a quarter of a million trees every day. But it's not necessarily unrealistic. It's just that it will require a sea change in the way things are done today. Where are we at [...]

Most of you will be aware of the Bentley Car Museum and wild foul centre, the group has spent many weekends at the Wood fair each year. Things are changing, the following is from their facebook page:   The journey starts here....   WILD BENTLEY·SATURDAY, 26 OCTOBER 2019· Our aims; To create a sanctuary for the conservation of native, endangered wildlife species and the reintroduction of lost species. To create a technology hub that celebrates our motoring heritage but which also focuses on the future of sustainable transport and encourages young people to get involved with engineering their future. To [...]

Members meeting dates for 2020 Some dates for you new diary for the coming years Members meetings, each meeting will have a speaker and all members are welcome to attend. They take place at the Wareham Nature reserve and are a great opportunity to meet up and stay in touch as well as listen to some engaging talks. Members have said: 'I learn something new every time I attend' 'It was great to catch up and see everyone again' 'That's got me thinking about what we are doing in the woods' 'A well spent evening' The new dates are: 6th [...]

2020  Bodgers Ball The 2020 Bodgers Ball will be held on the 8th - 9th - 10th May at Eyarth House, Ruthin, Denbighshire, North Wales, LL15 2EG, by kind permission of Alistair Fleming and Family. The theme of the 2020 Ball will be "The Shepherds Ball" and we will also have a Victory in Europe Day Competition Class to mark the weekend. Thanks to the Wales (North East) Group and the Woodland Skills Centre (Bodfari) for their support in organising the 2020 Ball. There will be a write up in the Winter Gazette and further details on the APT&GW Web-page. [...]

Observatree Autumn Round Up For those of you that dont know, Observatree is an award winning collaborative project between Forest Research, Forestry Commission England, Forestry Commission Scotland, APHA, Defra, Fera Science Ltd, the National Trust, Natural Resources Wales and the Woodland Trust. Using citizen science to help spot new pest and disease threats to UK trees. The following is their latest report: In total we had 1247 reports submitted between July and September, which is a lot of trees being looked at!  The Midlands volunteers have been the busiest; we seem to have a bit of a rivalry developing between [...]

Great news from Stanmer Park, the following is from the ProArb website: A team of heavy horses are the latest recruits to the council’s countryside team at Stanmer Park. Led by Dan and Jess Brown, the Comtois horses will spend the next three weeks helping to clear sycamore and ash trees thinned out as part of the park’s Woodland Management Plan. Horses have traditionally been used to move logs from woodland to avoid using heavy machinery and minimise damage to the other trees and the forest floor. The selective thinning of the trees will make space for planting a range [...]

This November's Members meeting was all about Cobnuts, Gillian Jones, Chair of the Kent cobnut association and grower of Cobnuts, gave a very interesting and thought provoking talk to a big turnout group of members. A cobnut is a cultivated variety of hazelnut, just as a Cox is a cultivated variety of apple. Mankind has enjoyed wild hazelnuts from time immemorial, and cultivated hazelnuts, sometimes known as filberts, have been grown in gardens and orchards since at least the 16th century. Children played an early version of 'conkers' with hazelnuts; the game was called cobnut or cobblenut, and the winning [...]

A new Whatsapp initiative for coppice workers  How many times have you had an enquiry far too big for you to handle, or simply too busy to fulfill?Or needed coppice materials yourself to complete a job? We've wondered how NCFed could help in managing such orders for a while. So we are launching a new pilot scheme which we hope will do just that. We have created a WhatsApp Group called 'NCFed Coppice Merchant' where all members can share details of orders they can't fulfill on their own, or where you can send requests for materials you may need. But [...]

CALLING ALL COLLECTORS! PEOPLE’S SHOW 2020 at the Weald and Downland living museum I just spotted this call for help from the Weald and Downland living museum: Calling all collectors. As part of the Weald & Downland Living Museum’s 50th Anniversary we will be holding a ‘People’s Show’ from 13 February until 11 May 2020. At the Museum we have around 16,500 items in our collection dealing with rural life and building activities, but we also know that some of you have wonderful collections too and we want to see them. A People’s Show turns the spot-light on our visitors own collections [...]

The Woodland trust is asking for everyone's help to plant trees. The following is from their website: The Woodland Trust is calling on one million people to pledge to plant a tree to help us fight the climate emergency. We need to act now! This year, on 30 November the Woodland trust will hold a mass participation tree planting day with events across the country. Join us in The Big Climate Fightback. If you are unable to plant a tree as part of The Big Climate Fightback, you can still play your part. Simply pledge and make a donation to the [...]

Bob Hewitt is involved in helping make a new Sculpture at Warnham Nature reserve, Bob says: The sculpture is built at Warnham nature reserve as part of their information trail where we the group have our meetings, I was employed to erect the trail signs 11 in all, the sculpture was professionally designed and then built by the reserve volunteers under the supervision of the architect, it is made from cleft chestnut rails and bolted together The Tri Helix is to represent the cell structure of plants. Warnham Local Nature Reserve is a haven for wildlife just a 30-minute walk from Horsham [...]