oak tree

11 April 202111 April 2021

Oak

The tree that dominated the view from behind the stable has been cut down to it’s lower limbs, all of them are hollow and some have worms working at the very top of what’s left. The limbs have flattened tops and horizontal perching places, and an owl box has been fixed in the centre, the nesting hole faces south and encourages any inquisitive owl to fly in over the open field. The box may become home to a sparrow hawk or kestrel and if not then maybe a pigeon! There’s a big pile of logs that need stacking and seasoning ready for the woodburner in two years time, and the woodchip will be spread around the garden. A cloudy day with sunny spells, variable temperatures and moderate winds.

20 November 202020 November 2020

Morning Sunshine

Most of the leaves have been blown off the oak tree, the ones left are on this eastward facing side, it’s mostly hollow so it’s good that it’s still standing. Collected most of the fallen leaves that were on the grass with the mower and added them to the sinking sides of the compost heap. Led the donkeys down the avenue to the lower paddock, they came back up to the stable mid afternoon and had a few beech branches to eat. The sheep made best use of their five o’clock playtime by pogo-ing round the woodpile, all four feet off the ground at the same time. A lovely sunny start to the day with a cool, fresh breeze and a little cloud later, no rain today.

11 September 202011 September 2020

Seasoned Oak

The oak tree that fell into the paddock had seasoned while still standing so the logs can be burnt this year, moved them all to the side of the garage where they should stay reasonably dry before being stacked outside the boot room just before bringing inside. The larger pieces that won’t fit into the woodburner will be used as tables or supports for bird baths. The silver birch behind the rail is doing ok, it was planted to replace the horse chestnut which has sprouted again so will need to be pruned. Cycled 8 miles on quiet roads near Wimborne, a sunny warm day with a lovely red sunset.

29 August 202029 August 2020

The large oak tree behind the stable is over a hundred years old so it needed a balancing prune and it’s lower branches lifted. The view is even more spectacular, and the branches will still provide shade in the summer although the pile of woodchip is much smaller than expected so may have to get more delivered for the seating area. The sad news is that a visual survey of the centre of the main trunk revealed significant cavities in each of the three large limbs, the biggest is more than two meters deep and full of loose fibrous material, the other two are smaller but taken together there’s a risk of the tree being felled in a gale either tomorrow or in a few years time, it’s difficult to predict. One option is to have it felled; decided not to do that as it’s such a joy to look at and a significant landmark, I hope it lasts another hundred years!