It has become the accepted norm in the UK that to plant a tree, you need to put your sapling in the ground and then wrap a plastic tree guard around it.
Long thread here... from Keith, on tree guards:
I really don’t want to spread 120,000 plastic tree guards across the side of our lovely hill, the hill where I grew up and now farm, on the eastern edge of the Black Mountains. So, I’ve taken a good look at the pros,... 1/25
It has become the accepted norm in the UK that to plant a tree, you need to put your sapling in the ground and then wrap a plastic tree guard around it.
•protect your saplings from things that want to eat them;
•provide a microclimate, which enhances tree growth, according to the manufacturers;
Critters!
Tree guards protect saplings from browsing and nibbling by rabbits, hares, voles and deer. So, if you have populations of these animals where you are planting...
Manufacturers claim that plastic tree guards increase survival rates by 25%, and that they saved 13 million saplings in the UK, in 2019.
Manufacturers, and their sales departments, make much of the amazing microclimate created inside a tree guard: they say plants photosynthesise better, manage CO2 better, and grow bigger, better and stronger as a result. Two points about this.
Over millions of years, trees have evolved to race for the light created when an old tree falls and...
The costs of tree guards raise some interesting questions. It costs roughly one pound to buy, plant and place a cane by a tree. It also costs roughly one pound to buy, fit and remove a tree guard. This raises the possibility of planting twice as many trees, if you are not
One thing I must mention is that removal of the guards is essential, not just because they look awful and are polluting; but left on the tree, they can cause serious damage. This can happen in several ways: the guard rattles about in the wind and abrades...
This is true. However, although it is important to be able to find the tree, a simple cane will do the job. If herbicide sprays are used, I don’t think they should be used when the tree is in leaf. You can safely spray...
Conclusion.
I think the logical conclusion is that tree guards do have a place at certain sites, for example if there are heavy populations of rabbits etc. I don’t, however, think that using guards should be used...
As we have few rabbits, virtually no voles (as its bracken litter) and precious few hares on the Bryn Arw, we're not using tree guards.
Fingers crossed!
Thanks for reading,
Keith
More from Climate change
The forests of Russia, Mongolia, Canada, Scandinavia and the US will experience unprecedented destructive heat by 2029 with staggering consequences for life on Earth.
Feedback loops created by permafrost melt & wildfire destruction represent just a few of the terrifying effects of climate change on boreal forest ecosystems, which are particularly at risk to rising temperatures. ⚠️🔥
https://t.co/zZNKrRnqoZ
Massive wildfires are already here.
More forest fires are burning in the Arctic in recent years than any time in the last 10,000 years.
🔺these massive arctic fires are showing worrying signs of becoming a vicious cycle
Wildfire-related carbon releases from permafrost regions will quadruple within decades.
Arctic wildfires, impacted by global warming, are in turn contributing to more climate breakdown.
🔺An increase in boreal & tundra fires in the future will enhance permafrost thawing.
Feedback loops created by permafrost melt & wildfire destruction represent just a few of the terrifying effects of climate change on boreal forest ecosystems, which are particularly at risk to rising temperatures. ⚠️🔥
https://t.co/zZNKrRnqoZ
Massive wildfires are already here.
More forest fires are burning in the Arctic in recent years than any time in the last 10,000 years.
🔺these massive arctic fires are showing worrying signs of becoming a vicious cycle
Wildfire-related carbon releases from permafrost regions will quadruple within decades.
Arctic wildfires, impacted by global warming, are in turn contributing to more climate breakdown.
🔺An increase in boreal & tundra fires in the future will enhance permafrost thawing.
It was a dark and stormy night...
(I’ve always wanted to tweet that) But seriously, there was a tropical storm when a group of people gathered in the woods.
If they were white, we’d call them “founding fathers” but they were slaves who were about to change the world
A thread
Voudou priestess Cecile Fatiman danced with a knife. Then she split a pig and everyone drank the pig’s blood from a wooden bowl while enslaved priest Cutty Boukman prayed:
“The god who created the earth; who created the sun that gives us light. The god who holds up the ocean;
who makes the thunder roar. Our god who has ears to hear. You who are hidden in the clouds, who watch us from where you are. You see all that the white has made us suffer. The white man’s god asks him to commit crimes. But the god within us wants to do good...
It’s He who will direct our arms and bring us the victory. It’s He who will assist us. We all should throw away the image of the white men’s god who is so pitiless. Listen to the voice for liberty that speaks in all our hearts.”
Then , the meeting adjourned & everyone went home.
A week later, on Aug. 21 1791, it began.
In one week, 1800 plantations on the Island of St. Domingue would be burned to the ground and 1,000 white enslavers would be dead.
The shit had finally hit the fan.
(I’ve always wanted to tweet that) But seriously, there was a tropical storm when a group of people gathered in the woods.
If they were white, we’d call them “founding fathers” but they were slaves who were about to change the world
A thread
Holup. I ain't learned about this in school. What was this??
— Drunk Tweets, Inc - Mask it or Casket (@DrunkTweetsInc) January 1, 2021
Voudou priestess Cecile Fatiman danced with a knife. Then she split a pig and everyone drank the pig’s blood from a wooden bowl while enslaved priest Cutty Boukman prayed:
“The god who created the earth; who created the sun that gives us light. The god who holds up the ocean;
who makes the thunder roar. Our god who has ears to hear. You who are hidden in the clouds, who watch us from where you are. You see all that the white has made us suffer. The white man’s god asks him to commit crimes. But the god within us wants to do good...
It’s He who will direct our arms and bring us the victory. It’s He who will assist us. We all should throw away the image of the white men’s god who is so pitiless. Listen to the voice for liberty that speaks in all our hearts.”
Then , the meeting adjourned & everyone went home.
A week later, on Aug. 21 1791, it began.
In one week, 1800 plantations on the Island of St. Domingue would be burned to the ground and 1,000 white enslavers would be dead.
The shit had finally hit the fan.
