TreeAbility

10/11/2025

How to fit and fill a Barcham Trees hydration bag

20/09/2025

Lots of fungus popping out at the moment so check on and around your trees for any fruiting bodies. This is Meripilus, a very destructive fungus found on beech trees! 😮

20/05/2025

Following on from my rant about planting trees at the correct depth, Barcham Trees have some great planting and tree care guides

A few years ago Mike saw a Lime gently rocking in the soil, its trunk leaving an ever increasing hollow in the soil line, signifying that its root system is buried way below the correct level. It is widely recognised that planting trees too deep is a major cause for premature decline.

20/05/2025

Planting advice - Stop burying the tree root flare!!
I'm seeing so many trees badly planted with the root flare completely covered with soil. This encourages root collar rot, pest and disease entry and a short term future for the tree.
A lot of nursery trees are supplied with the root flare buried already as they have just potted them on and added new soil. Scrape the soil and any fibrous roots back to get down to the flare and make sure it is above ground. Mulch and stake it if necessary making sure not to damage the trunk. Don't put a w**d membrane down (like in the picture!) as this stops all the good interaction at the mulch soil interface. As the mulch breaks down enzymes are created which help the tree form fungal associations with the soil and help fight disease.
Make sure you adjust the ties as the tree grows so it doesn't form a tourniquet on the trunk stopping water and nutrient flow!

17/02/2025

Great day looking at Veteran and Ancient Trees at Sherwood Forest for a habitat creation workshop led by Reg Harris. The work is trying to bridge the gap between ancient trees, of which there are about 200 left and the young trees which don't have any habitat features yet. Most of the middle aged trees having been felled for timber over the years so this work is trying to restore a better spread of habitats for invertebrates and the rest of the ecosystem 👍