Christmas trees

[goosey]

It always use to make me sad to see all the Christmas trees with sawn off trunks every year, so we always had an artificial one until last year. That was when we found a nursery we could get a tree in a pot for 13 euros (or more for a bigger one) we got a lovely smelling Picea omorika (Serbian Spruce)then after Christmas you can take them back to be replanted and get a 5 euro voucher back to spend in the nursery. Last year we never bothered as it was such a nice tree I put it in the front forecourt garden, where it is still doing well. This year I won’t have room, so it will be going back to be replanted! It's a much better idea than just leaving them in the street to be collected and made into mulch or burned and I won’t feel guilty.
It’s not all perfect, I have had a reaction to the needles manoeuvring and decorating it and have a very itchy rash, the stupid thing is the same happened last year .

[paul m]

Much as I dislike Christmas, I don't think that 'christmas trees' are such a bad thing. They are a carbon sink and (in UK at least, many of them are recycled).

Basically, small 'christmas trees' are thinnigs from plantations where other trees will be grown on to a larger size to produce timber. This is one of the great things about forestry, that you can extract trees year after year and yet still have big trees left at the end. I would prefer, in genreal to see native woods but if you have to have plantations then let them be sequential!


In our case, have I written this before?, we dig up yew seedlings from the wood, pot them up, grow them on for a year or so and then replant them ... yews have more character (we think!) than the conifers ....

Originally Posted by goosey

It always use to make me sad to see all the Christmas trees with sawn off trunks every year, so we always had an artificial one until last year. That was when we found a nursery we could get a tree in a pot for 13 euros (or more for a bigger one) we got a lovely smelling Picea omorika (Serbian Spruce)then after Christmas you can take them back to be replanted and get a 5 euro voucher back to spend in the nursery. Last year we never bothered as it was such a nice tree I put it in the front forecourt garden, where it is still doing well. This year I won’t have room, so it will be going back to be replanted! It's a much better idea than just leaving them in the street to be collected and made into mulch or burned and I won’t feel guilty.
It’s not all perfect, I have had a reaction to the needles manoeuvring and decorating it and have a very itchy rash, the stupid thing is the same happened last year .

[goosey]

Not about fir tree plantations or Christmas tree's persé, but the same type of trees.
When we in the Lake District in the summer we were driving alongside Thilmere and for the first time ever in years of driving that way we were able to see the lake below. It had been densely planted with fir trees. December 2006 saw the start of removing about 114 acres of conifers and non-native trees and replacing them with species indigenous to the area. Manchester Corporation who owned the land at that time (now united utilities), established much of the present forest in the early 1900s by planting large numbers of conifers. The trees were needed to stabilise the banks of the reservoir and protect water quality, and conifers were chosen for their fast growth and valuable timber rather than their visual appeal.

Now aday, there is a more sympathetic approach to the visual impact on the valley by encouraging the return of native species. An extensive area of new native woodland along the lake margin will also be created around the entire lake. These trees will be established principally by encouraging natural regeneration.

Most of the work is technically difficult because land around the lake is steep and inaccessible to standard forestry machinery.
The work will take three years and is designed to improve the valley by opening up views across the lake. Removing over-mature roadside conifer trees will also help to improve safety along the busy A591.

It's great that something positive is happenig, not just the cheapest and quickest solution, or leaving it to become the next persons problem.