With some sadness, on this year of hopeful expansion, I am loosing a number of oaks 8-12 dead oak in the wood. Identified by Garry Patel. Most probably root decline, he said, no doubt aided by the stress of this years drought. The oaks were expressing themselves with natural retrenchment, shooting along tree branches rather than at the ends, which were too far away for the water and nutrients to reach in such a year as we’ve had.
The cherry picker arrived. Theo on climbing, Paul on picker, and Mungo on clearing up and very usefully he began repairing the pond frame with fresh cut hazel. At the same time, I hired a digger to scrape the last hard standing, for us to eventually lay the oak trunks once felled. Theo was most graceful, and with admirable skill, stripped all the limbs off the giant oak in the centre of the wood.
Kaliwood 