tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083229388630903702.post3591039302280070297..comments2023-07-05T11:48:14.973+01:00Comments on LOOSE AND LEAFY in DORSET: SPLIT ENDS - INTRODUCING THE TREESLucy Corrander Now in Halifax!http://www.blogger.com/profile/14685242329129914772noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083229388630903702.post-35696465325038106712008-12-15T07:37:00.001+00:002008-12-15T07:37:00.001+00:00Thanks Philip.LucyThanks Philip.<BR/><BR/>LucyLucy Corrander Now in Halifax!https://www.blogger.com/profile/14685242329129914772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083229388630903702.post-17938974168808091992008-12-15T07:37:00.000+00:002008-12-15T07:37:00.000+00:00Monica - I've decided I need to know more about fl...Monica - I've decided I need to know more about flails.<BR/><BR/>When I next see them at work - I'll go and look properly at the machines and do a post.<BR/><BR/>LucyLucy Corrander Now in Halifax!https://www.blogger.com/profile/14685242329129914772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083229388630903702.post-76836452997913341832008-12-14T15:11:00.000+00:002008-12-14T15:11:00.000+00:00I have enjoyed your photographs. As always, I am s...I have enjoyed your photographs. As always, I am surprised by surprises!<BR/>PhilipPhilip Bewleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02593795071070337798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083229388630903702.post-38490522773788855602008-12-12T21:39:00.000+00:002008-12-12T21:39:00.000+00:00Monica - I answered too quickly so my description ...Monica - I answered too quickly so my description isn't quite right - and the tractors have arms sticking out which are like massive hedge trimmers or electric carving knives . . . .<BR/><BR/>But you'll get the right idea from what I said . . .<BR/><BR/>Can anyone explain better how they work rather than just what the result is?<BR/><BR/>LucyLucy Corrander Now in Halifax!https://www.blogger.com/profile/14685242329129914772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083229388630903702.post-87561076444750419402008-12-12T21:16:00.000+00:002008-12-12T21:16:00.000+00:00Hello Monica - Flailing your arms about - it is ...Hello Monica - Flailing your arms about - it is a bit like that I suppose - but large scale.<BR/><BR/>Imagine spinning whips - like sideways lawn-strimmers (do you have them?) wizzing round, cutting off the twigs and branches.<BR/><BR/>Farmers tow them behind their tractors but contractors (like the one which did this damage) have huge machines - big lorries, to do it.<BR/><BR/>When these hedgerows were being flailed, I happened to be walking along with someone who got so angry about what was happening that he wanted to tackle the workers who were doing it so he could (in a not terribly friendly way) persuade them to stop.<BR/><BR/>After we'd discussed it for a bit (in a rather animated way) reluctantly he agreed it wasn't their fault, they were just doing what they were paid to do - it's the council which issues the contract which bears the responsibility. He let the workers be and I promised to go to the council - which I did.<BR/><BR/>But it gets you like that. The process can seem so violent it's easy to feel violent too when you see it being done.<BR/><BR/>Clearly, many people think it's an ok way to trim back the hedges along public rights of way so there must be good things, acceptable things about it.<BR/><BR/>But it's indiscriminate . . .<BR/><BR/>LucyLucy Corrander Now in Halifax!https://www.blogger.com/profile/14685242329129914772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083229388630903702.post-10100200930829627102008-12-12T20:21:00.000+00:002008-12-12T20:21:00.000+00:00Wait, what? I only know the word flail as in thras...Wait, what? I only know the word flail as in thrashing ones arms about... so I'll assume flailing hedgerows means cutting them willy nilly by city officials who are neither gardeners nor plant afficionados? And that the shrubs or trees get hurt in this type of trimming? Boo!!! And berries are good, dagnabbit!<BR/>~ MonicaMonica the Garden Faeriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06369882350990949968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083229388630903702.post-8956697505624404362008-12-11T16:38:00.000+00:002008-12-11T16:38:00.000+00:00Wittenden - I have no idea why the council wants t...Wittenden - I have no idea why the council wants these hedges to be flailed three times a year. It's very odd.<BR/><BR/>After Christmas, I'll ask.<BR/><BR/>But the result does seem to be that, rather than maintaining an edge, they are cutting deeper and deeper into the hedge each time the machines come by - gradually shaving it away!<BR/><BR/>Presumably that's why the branches I show in this post escaped earlier flails.<BR/><BR/>Lucy<BR/><BR/>(I do hope I'm not exagerating how bad all this is. To the very-lay-person, it's hard not to get onto an emotional high horse - which is why I want to watch what happens over the year. Then I'll know how much I should worry . . . and how much it's just me not liking the 'look' of the place after a flail.)Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax!https://www.blogger.com/profile/14685242329129914772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083229388630903702.post-57334927081562048372008-12-11T16:24:00.000+00:002008-12-11T16:24:00.000+00:00Gary - the Train of Death does sound awful.A note ...Gary - the Train of Death does sound awful.<BR/><BR/>A note of sympathy with British Rail . . . in that it does have to cope with a lot of buddleia. One of my posts soon will be about buddleia - which does have extraordinary regenerative properties. And train drivers do have to see where they are going! (I would guess they are also worried about brickwork beside tracks and in bridges). <BR/>But flails are indiscriminate and one wonders what happens to the trees and bushes mixed in with it.<BR/><BR/>LucyLucy Corrander Now in Halifax!https://www.blogger.com/profile/14685242329129914772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083229388630903702.post-77516127408787555372008-12-11T16:19:00.000+00:002008-12-11T16:19:00.000+00:00Easy Gardener - About the 2cm thick recommendation...Easy Gardener - About the 2cm thick recommendation . . .<BR/><BR/>One of the things that makes this particular stretch of hedgerow interesting is that it runs along the top of a bank. This means that, while some bushes really are bushes, others are the middles and tops of fully grown trees which have their roots and trunks below the eye-line. This is why there are proper branches mixed in with the thinner growth.<BR/><BR/>Of course, the council does have to take cost into account . . . and, of course . . . everyone has their own favourite hedgerow. (Well, perhaps not everybody.) However, I would have hoped the sheer variety in the stretch I am showing here would have made it special to the council too.<BR/><BR/>(Ho! One wishes!)<BR/><BR/>LucyLucy Corrander Now in Halifax!https://www.blogger.com/profile/14685242329129914772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083229388630903702.post-67596008078871907702008-12-11T16:12:00.000+00:002008-12-11T16:12:00.000+00:00Plant Mad Nige - The books I have for identifyin...Plant Mad Nige - The books I have for identifying trees are very inconsitant. They provide photos for bark for some and not for others . . .<BR/><BR/>I looked at the trees you suggested and the catkins didn't seem right - but (like fungi!) they change as the season progresses . . . <BR/><BR/>In some ways, not knowing will add to the interest of the exercise - eventually finding out what I am looking at when the leaves appear. (I hope.) And then they will turn out to be embarassingly ordinary.<BR/><BR/>About the photos. Thanks. I'm glad you like them.<BR/><BR/>I was presented with a dilemma here, though. How interesting or beautiful should one allow photos of bad things to be? I solve this, in part by having two blogs - but it is a problem.<BR/><BR/>LucyLucy Corrander Now in Halifax!https://www.blogger.com/profile/14685242329129914772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083229388630903702.post-49455914400951399192008-12-11T16:03:00.000+00:002008-12-11T16:03:00.000+00:00Aeerie-elI notice, on your bloggers profile, that ...Aeerie-el<BR/><BR/>I notice, on your bloggers profile, that Etre et Avoir is one of your favourite films.<BR/><BR/>Close to the beginning, the camera holds trees swaying outside the classroom window in frame - it's incredible - they sort of suck you into their movement - I could happily watch them for even longer than the director allows.<BR/><BR/>And your current header is stunning.<BR/><BR/>You must be a tree person!<BR/><BR/>LucyLucy Corrander Now in Halifax!https://www.blogger.com/profile/14685242329129914772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083229388630903702.post-38175275475478170322008-12-10T19:04:00.000+00:002008-12-10T19:04:00.000+00:00Lucy-much too big material for flailing: needs a s...Lucy-much too big material for flailing: needs a skilled operator with a chainsaw or some kind of pruning saw. Doubtless the council are trying to save money/mitigate health and safety issues by not having to use skilled labour. Why on earth do they flial 2 to 3 times per year?<BR/>When the electricity board cuts over hanging branches from their wires, they use cherry pickers. Much better, but they too tend to leave unblanced trees over a course of several years-one of my bugbears!David, Little Omenden Farm and Nurseryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13955877094820632300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083229388630903702.post-80883372249761928952008-12-10T10:27:00.000+00:002008-12-10T10:27:00.000+00:00The project sounds great. With regard to flailing ...The project sounds great. With regard to flailing Network Rail have the train of death. They use it for clearing embankments it uses big flails to smash everything in it's path, awful thing.<BR/><BR/>GarGaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05565371216691963227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083229388630903702.post-4061601721381270792008-12-08T14:45:00.000+00:002008-12-08T14:45:00.000+00:00From the RSPB site (Conservation) it appears flail...From the RSPB site (Conservation) it appears flailing is a cheap option best used on wood under 2cm thick - it also suggests more than once a year is not good for the hedge's health.Most hedges will exceed the 2cm limit fairly quickly I would have thought. <BR/>No doubt cheapness is all that matters to the local authority.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083229388630903702.post-31458204404144963972008-12-08T12:04:00.000+00:002008-12-08T12:04:00.000+00:00As ever, lovely pictures, even when showing wounde...As ever, lovely pictures, even when showing wounded trees. <BR/><BR/>The tree with catkins is, I'm pretty sure, a birch, but your description - red twigs - suggests Alnus incana. The preceding tree is a bit hard to recognise, too, but I wonder whether it's an aspen?Plant Mad Nigehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01051715161395516677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083229388630903702.post-58733414176895696512008-12-08T05:13:00.000+00:002008-12-08T05:13:00.000+00:00Great photos. The structure of a tree's limbs agai...Great photos. The structure of a tree's limbs against a blue sky can take one's breath away.<BR/>It will be <I>tres interessant</I> to see the changes you track during the year.<BR/>~Aerie-elKit Aerie-elhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06548961699994971020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083229388630903702.post-61581639228234235242008-12-08T04:16:00.000+00:002008-12-08T04:16:00.000+00:00Yes . . . work! I'm hoping I haven't bitten off...Yes . . . work! I'm hoping I haven't bitten off more than I want to chew.<BR/><BR/>None the less, this latest flailing seems to have been more vicious than previous ones and some sets of bushes are becoming very narrow.<BR/><BR/>LucyLucy Corrander Now in Halifax!https://www.blogger.com/profile/14685242329129914772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083229388630903702.post-19948045198787038482008-12-07T21:59:00.000+00:002008-12-07T21:59:00.000+00:00Sounds like a really cool project! I look forward ...Sounds like a really cool project! I look forward to seeing the compiled work! :)Far Side of Fiftyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07995757632158408442noreply@blogger.com