Climate change: Free tree offered to every Welsh household

Discussion in 'Plants: In the News' started by Junglekeeper, Dec 6, 2021.

  1. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    5,987
    Likes Received:
    608
    Location:
    Vancouver BC Canada
    Xi-feng, Margot, maf and 1 other person like this.
  2. AlainK

    AlainK Renowned Contributor Forums Moderator Maple Society 10 Years

    Messages:
    3,621
    Likes Received:
    5,192
    Location:
    nr Orléans, France (E.U.)
    Excellent initiative.
    Here, not so long ago, a lot of people had hedges planted with Thuya, or Cupressocyparis, 2 metres high. What a friend of mine would call "green concrete walls".
    I still have a few to separate a passage between my house and my neighbour's, but like many have done in the past years, I've replaced most of them with various species.
    And I leave a patch in my backgarden where I cut the grass only once a year, so there are lots of wild flowers.
     
  3. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    5,987
    Likes Received:
    608
    Location:
    Vancouver BC Canada
    Have you noticed any improvement in the environment as a result of the changes you made? Was there an increase in the number of pollinators?
     
  4. AlainK

    AlainK Renowned Contributor Forums Moderator Maple Society 10 Years

    Messages:
    3,621
    Likes Received:
    5,192
    Location:
    nr Orléans, France (E.U.)
    Hard to say : the number of pollinators have declined so much in the past years. One of my friend asked me once : "Did you notice that when we were kids, we had to wipe the windscreen several times when our parents would take us on holidays?" And that's true, now you can drive 500 km in summer and your windscreen is still (almost) clean...

    I removed a big Buddleia davidii that attracted a lot of butterflies a few years ago (in French "Arbre aux papillons, in English "butterfly-bush" I think). There were more butterfly than last year though, maybe of a more balanced weather between rain and hot dry weather.

    But I have a Vitex agnus-castus that attracts many different species of bees, bumblebees and others.

    I rarely use pesticides, on my bonsai only when "natural sprays" don't work : garlic decoction, or filtered 50% water+50% alcohol+ "black soap" + a tea spoon of cinnamon, etc.

    There are also many birds, blackbirds, robins, 2 species of chickadees, a couple of turtledoves nesting each year in one of my trees, magpies (I clap my hands when I see them because they tend to chase the other smaller birds),... At the moment, they feed on the fruit of my flowering maples, and the blackbirds pull earthworms from the "lawn". Which is a good sign the soil is ghealthy... ;-)

    A recent survey showed that 30% of wild birds in France have disappeared in the past decade(s ?).

    Wales, France, Canada, and the rest of the world will have to adapt to climate change, volens nolens. Planting the right species, the right way, is maybe one of the solution.

    Here (but I suppose it's the same in many countries), more and more farmers plant rows of fruit trees (peach, apple, cherry,...) between rows of vegetables : they provide some shade in the hottest months, it's good for pollinators, and since it's not a monoculture, in case of a "weather incident", the farmers won't lose their whole crop for the year.

    A bit longish, OK, but that's a topical issue, more and more people are aware of the problem, and some put forward simple, efficient solutions I think.

    BTW, in the background, the last remains of my "green concrete wall" that used to be about 20 metres long on the left-hand side:

    acer-discolor_210419a.jpg
     
    Margot, wcutler and maf like this.
  5. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

    Messages:
    21,250
    Likes Received:
    786
    Location:
    WA USA (Z8)
    The way to make a significant change to the ability of the currently pastoral landscapes of Britain and Northern Europe to support native, woodland adapted wildlife would be to convert an adequately large percentage of fields to woodland. Migratory birds that summer in temperate areas are losing southern hemisphere wintering grounds to deforestation.
     
  6. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    5,987
    Likes Received:
    608
    Location:
    Vancouver BC Canada
    I wonder if this is really going to work. The planting of native species trees would be preferred but as the climate warms, they will be growing in an environment that has already changed from what it used to be. If the climate continues to warm, the trees may not be able to adapt.
     
    Margot and AlainK like this.
  7. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

    Messages:
    15,597
    Likes Received:
    13,020
    Location:
    Hampshire England Zone 8b UK
  8. AlainK

    AlainK Renowned Contributor Forums Moderator Maple Society 10 Years

    Messages:
    3,621
    Likes Received:
    5,192
    Location:
    nr Orléans, France (E.U.)
    "ash dieback" : last year I read an article about it. It said that foresters were selecting the trees that apparently can resist better than others to clone them.

    But like beech, ash are originally from the north, thousands of years ago, then they colonized further south. That's maybe why they are among the species that bud out very late in spring, perhaps they've kept some of their "inner clock" in their genes...
     
  9. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

    Messages:
    15,597
    Likes Received:
    13,020
    Location:
    Hampshire England Zone 8b UK
    I think you have hit the nail on the head, so to speak Alain.

    D
     
  10. AlainK

    AlainK Renowned Contributor Forums Moderator Maple Society 10 Years

    Messages:
    3,621
    Likes Received:
    5,192
    Location:
    nr Orléans, France (E.U.)
    There's an excellent article on beech by the INRAe, but it's in French. Online translation from French to English is not that bad, so if you're interested :

    Comprendre l’adaptation des hêtres au changement climatique : une base de données unique au monde est désormais disponible

    ... but the abstract of the research which the article is based on is in English :

    Phenotypic trait variation measured on European genetic trials of Fagus sylvatica L - Scientific Data

    Funding, supporting research is essential...
     
  11. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

    Messages:
    15,597
    Likes Received:
    13,020
    Location:
    Hampshire England Zone 8b UK
    Thanks Alain, yes very much interested as we should all be. I think everyone on this forum will find the conclusions interesting but more than a little concerning.
    I do think your analogy of the natural location of where a plant/ tree should be is 'perfect'. Something we should all adhere to.

    D
     
  12. AlainK

    AlainK Renowned Contributor Forums Moderator Maple Society 10 Years

    Messages:
    3,621
    Likes Received:
    5,192
    Location:
    nr Orléans, France (E.U.)
    Some 15 years ago, a friend bought an olive tree, a big one with a 50 cm caliper or so. They were already the fashion here, they were taken fom abandonned olive orchards, which some in Spain don't like, and I can understand).

    It died in the second winter. I don't know if the tree started again from the base as they often do after a particularly cold winter because she sold the house.

    Now, thete has been another in my street, for nearly 10 years. It must be in a more protected area, and is perfectly healthy. Though I've never seen any olives on it.

    Just to say that some trees had very little chance to survive in a garden here unless they were potted and brought to a greenhouse in winter, like the citrus at the "Orangerie" in Versailles. But today, olive trees can live in a garden.

    I must take a picture one of these days...
     
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2021
  13. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

    Messages:
    15,597
    Likes Received:
    13,020
    Location:
    Hampshire England Zone 8b UK
    I think that says it all tbh Alain. If trees have to put in a greenhouse over the Winter then they are not in their natural environment, but we all do it !! Myself included.

    D
     

Share This Page