Until July 2017, documenting the seasons of coastal Dorset. I'm a complete amateur so don't trust I'm always right. If ever you see I'm wrong - whether with identifications or in anything else - do say! Meanwhile . . . I've now moved to Halifax in West Yorkshire. Click on the link below to collect the new URL. Don't forget to follow there!

TREE FOLLOWING

Each year, I choose a tree and see what it does:
when its leaves appear and when they fall
which twigs grow and which fall off
if it has seeds
and if any germinate and grow into new trees
what its bark looks like - when it's wet and when it's dry
whether anything grows on it - like lichen
whether creatures sit on - insects, birds, butterflies
what plants grow round it and what they do too.

And I invite others to join me - to choose a tree and to 'follow' it.

From March 2014 there will be a linky box on 7th of every month where you will be able to leave links to your tree following posts. Each box will stay open for one week. That way we will be able to keep roughly in time with each other and compare the progress of 'our' trees through the year.

The box will open as (near as I can make it) at 7am UK Time.

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If you don't have a blog but would like to join in all the same you can send your observations to be posted on 'Other People's Pictures'. (From March 2015 two pictures plus text per post per month.)

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Each time a new box opens, links from the previous month can be found on a page issued by the gadget.



If you don't know what 'your' tree is, that's fine. You can still follow - 'the unknown tree'! - and maybe sometime through the year you'll find out - maybe someone will be able to help you with the ID.


I do hope you will decide to join us -you can let me know by leaving a comment or emailing me at

looseandleafy@googlemail.com


GROWING LIST FOR 2014 - 2015!

In the Company of Rocks and Plants - Hollis - (Wyoming, USA) - Willow
Loose and Leafy - Lucy Corrander - (Dorset, England) - Pine?
Plant Postings -  Beth - (Wisconsin, USA) - Shagbark Hickories (Carya ovata)
The Little House in the Not So Big Woods - Joy - (North Central Texas, USA) - Cedar Elm
Down By the Sea - Sarah - (Dorset, England) - Apple.
Tell Tale Therapy - Laura  - (London, England) - Linden (Tilia)
Gardening Ways - Gary Webb (Warwickshire, England) - Cedar of Lebanon
LeavesnBloom - Rosie - (Perthshire, Scotland) - Silver Pear
Flighty's Plot - Mike - (London, England) - Fig
Notes of Nature - Tim - (Wiltshire, England) - Two Garden Trees - Magnolia stellata and . . .
Ramblings from Rosebank - Elaine - (Leicestershire, England) - Ornamental Cherry
Plantalicious - Janet - (Anglesea, Wales) - Alder
The Forget-Me-Not Cultivation Blog - Sophie - (Lincolnshire, England) Eucalyptus gunii
Alder & Ash - Lucy - (Suffolk, England) Common Alder - Alnus Glutinosa
Gardens Eye View -  Donna - (Central New York State, USA) - American Linden - (Tilia Americana)
A Year of Two Trees  and Pencil and Leaf - Val - (Cambridgeshire, England) - Wild Cherry - (Prunus avium)
Wild and Wonderful - Caroline - (Suffolk, England) - Silver Birch and Box Elder (Box-Leaf Maple) -  (Acer negundo)
Hoe, Hoe, Grow - Jane - (Lincolnshire, England) - Fig (Ficus carica ;Brown Turkey')
Esther's Garden Notes and Photos - (Dorset, England) - Espaliered Apple
An Urban Veg. Patch - Caro -(London, England) - Mulberry, Acer or Plane
The Wilder Garden - Julian - (Pembrokeshire, Wales) - Oak
Duncan's Wild Garden - Duncan - (Renfrewshire, Scotland) - Sycamore
Linda's Wildlife Garden - Linda - (Norfolk) - Apple
Off the Edge Gardening - Gill - (Devon, England) - European Larch (Larix decidua)
Welsh Hills Again - Elizabeth - (Clwyd, Wales) - Rowan
It's Not Work, It's Gardening - Alan - (Missouri, USA) - Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum)
La Fosse - The House on the Hill - (Normandy, France) - Carole - Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa)
The Squirrel Basket - Pat - (Cardiff, Wales) - Empress Tree (Paulownia tomentosa)
Donna of Long Island - Acorn to oak - (New York State) - Blog to be announced!
Graphicality-UK - Helene - (London, England) - Magnolia soulangeana 'Heaven Scent'
Where Beechmast Falls - Dartford Warbler - (Hampshire, England) - Crab Apple (Malus domestica 'John Downie')
Veg Plotting - VP - (Gloucestershire) - Fallen Ash Tree
Gardens at Waters East - Jack - (Wisconsin, USA) - Scots Pine
Countryside Tales - (Hampshire, England) - Oak (probably Quercus robur)
Busy Bee's Garden - Em - (Dorset, England) - Grandmother's Tree (Prunus padus Grandiflora)
Adventures in Natural Bee Keeping - Pat - (Oregon, USA) - River Birch (Betula Nigra) 
The Orchard Year - (Cambridgeshire, England) - Bramley Apple Tree
Slate Grey, Lime and Hay - Natalie - (Powys, Wales) - Copper Beech
Christ Church, Welshpool - Natalie - (Powys, Wales) - Oak
What's Wild in Cornwall - Amanda - (Cornwall, England) - Tree to be announced!
Crafty Gardener - Linda - (Ontario, Canada) - Large Honeysuckle
Hello Nature - Kimberley - (Nottinghamshire, England) - Oak
The Blackberry Garden - Alison - (Leicestershire, England) - Quince
Island Threads - Frances - (Isle of Lewis, NW Scotland) Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta) and Crab Apple
Sophia's Blog - Sophia - (Dorset, England) - Apple
The Reremouse - Morgan - (West Midlands, England) - Tree to be announced
A Whole Plot of Love - (Flintshire, Wales) - Joanne - Greengage
Glen Villa: Site and Insight - Pat - (Eastern Townships, Quebec) - Basswood (Linden) (tilia americana).
The Violet Fern - Kathy - (New York State, USA) Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)
Stitching and Blooms - Judy - (Michigan, USA) - Kousa Dogwood.
Rambling Woods - Michelle - (New York State) - Silver Maple - (Acer saccharinum)
Green Tapestry - Anna - (Cheshire, England) - Pear - Doyenne du Comice
Spokes and Petals - Jenny - (Massachusetts, USA) Tree to be announced
Green Lizard's Blog - Liz - (Zuid Holland, Netherlands) - Ash
Winkos: A Straw Bale Building Project in Poland - (Podkarpacie - Poland) - Eddy and Gosia
Allotment in My Garden - Cathy - (Worcestershire, England) - Crab Apple
Hort'curious - Ena - Tree to be announced!
The Blooming Garden - Chloris - (Suffok, England) - Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastrum)
My Aberdeen Garden - Annette - (Aberdeen, Scotland) - Copper Beech
Evening Person - Richard - Cherry and Hawthorn
Crafty Green Poet - Juliet - (Edinburgh, Scotland) - European Larch
How to Garden in Colorado - Dawn -  (Colorado, USA) - Purple Leaf Plum (Prunus caresifera)
Beangenie - Kate - (Gwynedd, Wales) - Hawthorn
As Long as You Have a Garden - Susan - (British Columbia, Canada) - Cox's Orange Pippin
Duver Diary - Jenny - (Isle of White, Hampshire, England) - Oak
Red Dirt Ramblings - Dee - (Oklahoma, USA) - Southern Magnolia
Floriferous - Nicky - (County Durham, England) - Cox's Orange Pippin Apple
A Garden Notebook - Sue - (Nottinghamshire, England) - Rowan (Sorbus 'Pink Pagoda)
Of Gardens - Amy - (Massachusetts, USA) - Scarlet Oak
Joanna Dobson - Joanna - (South Yorkshire, England) - Silver Birch
Ground to Ground - Shane - (Melbourne, Australia) - Tamarillo
A Garden Notebook - Suzie - (Nottinghamshire, England) Sorbus 'Pink Pagoda'
Frugal in Suffolk - Susan - (Suffolk, England) Pink Horse Chestnut
Everyday Life - Lyn - (West Yorkshire, England) - Tree to be announced!
Discovering the Coppice - Lee - (Norfolk, England) - European Hazel (Corylus avellana)
Diary of a Suburban Gardener - Sue - (Melbourne, Australia)
- Prickly-Leaf Paperbark (Melaceuca  Styphelioides)
The Quiet Walker - Amanda - Larch
Weeding the Web - Helen - Lilac
Elephant's Eye on False BayDiana Studer - (Western Cape, South Africa) - Carob
Rambling in the Garden - Cathy (West Midlands, England) - Witch Hazel (Hamamelis ‘Amethyst’)
Erika Groth - Erika (Uppsala, Sweden) Apple (Malus Domestica) growing in the wild.
Life at 139a - Stephanie (London, England) - Foxglove Tree (Paulownia tomontosa)
Country Garden UK - Gillian - (North West England) Bramley Apple 
Close to Home - Jane Strong - Southern California - Sweetgum
My Gardener Says . . .  -  Tina Huckabee - (Texas, USA) - Retama (Parkinsonia aculeata)
Adventures of a Loner - Karen - (Jedburgh, Scotland) - Beech and The Jedburgh Capon (a hollow Oak)
Our Garden@19 - Brian - (Worcestershire, England) - Acer negundo Flamingo
Angie's Garden Diaries - Angie - (Edinburgh, Scotland) -  Rowan (Sorbus Autumn Spire)
Seasons in the Valley - The Furry Gnome - (Ontario, Canada) - Butternut, Juglans cinerea.
In My Playroom - Eileen - Silver Birch
The Transmutational Garden - Anna - (North Texas, USA) - Shumard Oak (Quercus shumardii)
Come Away With Me - Sara - (California , USA) - Jacaranda 
Itchifingers - Sandie - (Essex, England) - Oak and Plane
Wild Plot - Catherine - (Middlesex, England) - Hawthorn
Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments - Sue - West Yorkshire - Medlar - (Mespilus germanica)
Dirt and Wine - Melissa - (Central Texas, USA) - Live Oak
Botany Ca - Gabriela - diversifolius - (Ontario, Canada) Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
Garden Dreaming at Chatillon - Cathy - (Châtillon-sur-Saone, the Vosges, France) - Walnut (Juglans regia and Juglans nigra)
Thymewarp - Anne - New Zealand - Kowhai (?)
Words and Herbs - Cathy - (Bavaria, Germany) - Field Maple - (In German - Feldahorn) - (Acer Campestre)
Photo Nature Journal - Juliet Carol - (Kentucky, USA) -  Red Mulberry -
Leaf Encounter - Maria - Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus)
Lea's Menagerie - Lea - (Mississippis USA) "Bradford" Ornamental Pear - (Pyrus calleryana)
A Small Sunny Garden - Amy - (Sonoran Desert, USA) - Blue Palo Verde (Parkinsonia florida)
Nova Scotia Roots - Magnolia.
Felix im Garten - Felix - (Mannheim, Germany) - Quince
Rebecca's Texas Garden - Rebecca - (Texas, USA) - Chinese Pishtache  (Pistacia chinensis)
Jean's Garden - Jean - (Maine, USA) Red Maple (Acer rubrum) 
Edinburgh Garden Diary - Joanna - (Edinburgh, Scotland) - Apple

'Tree Watcher' - (Washington State, USA) - Magnolia has no blog so will be sending photos and info. to be published on 'Other People's Pictures'.
Liz in Lexington (Kentucky, USA) will be posting about her tree - Japanese Stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia) on Flighty's Plot - thanks to Mike Rogers.
If you would like to use the tree following image,
do feel free to copy and paste.



The idea of Tree Following as something we could do together rather than individually was inspired by Natalie who organised The Tree Year in 2011

On Twitter - use #treefollowing