November

Dear Tree Wardens and Co-ordinators,

We’re delighted that the UK’s first Tree Champion Sir William Worsley has praised the work of Tree Wardens during National Tree Week, stating “I admire all people that love trees”.

Warmest regards from The Tree Council team.

Britain’s recently appointed Tree Champion, Sir William Worsley, has marked his preparations for this month’s National Tree Week by paying tribute to the thousands of dedicated and expert Tree Wardens around the country who work behind the scenes as unpaid volunteers all year round.

With the six-month point of his tenure as the country’s first Tree Champion fast approaching, Sir William Worsley calls National Tree Week “an important part of my year” and has highlighted the work of the 6,000 volunteer Tree Wardens that promote and protect the trees in their local community, under a scheme managed by The Tree Council. This year, The Tree Council are taking the opportunity to thank these volunteers for their tireless work, which according to Sir William represents “a vital resource”.

Throughout National Tree Week, which runs from Saturday 24 November to Sunday 2 December, the country’s Tree Wardens will be busy planting trees in their local communities, encouraging schools and other groups to get involved, and will be ensuring the future care of newly planted trees.

Sara Lom, CEO of The Tree Council, said: “National Tree Week will see charities, professionals, schools and our volunteer Tree Warden groups across the UK supporting the initiative and bringing their communities together to do something positive in their neighbourhood. Trees are rooted in history and offer hope for the future. They strengthen communities, provide homes for wildlife and contribute to our health and wellbeing. That’s why it’s so vital for everyone to keep planting and caring for trees, and our volunteer Tree Wardens are the hidden heroes, getting people together to plant and care for trees around the country.” The Tree Council is currently seeking to grow the number of Tree Wardens nationwide.

Sir William sees National Tree Week as “an opportunity to engage people in planting trees.” The Tree Wardens “play a huge role in getting people engaged in trees, particularly in urban areas,” he adds.

Sir William is calling everyone to get involved in National Tree Week as a way that individuals and communities can support the UK’s natural habitat and the wider environment. “It’s important that people understand about trees and feel inspired to look after them.”

Sir William encouraged members of the younger generation in particular to become more involved in supporting trees. “Young people understand about the issues of climate change and this is one of the ways they can actually do something. By planting a tree, you genuinely can do something. It may be only small, but it is actually something practical.” The importance of planting trees has been emphasised by the latest Committee on Climate Change report calling on the UK to double tree planting efforts to help tackle climate change.

Sir William, who has urged that trees must be at the heart of the government’s environmental vision for the future, added: “I would encourage all people to work closely with The Tree Council right across the sector. I think there are a huge number of people out there trying to get involved with trees and forests, and I think The Tree Council has a really important leadership role to play in bringing organisations together.”

Beyond National Tree Week, Sir William is encouraging people to remain involved with trees around the country. “I would definitely encourage more people to become Tree Wardens,” Sir William said. “I admire the Tree Wardens. I admire all people that love trees.”

Tree Guardian

The latest edition is available to view here

October

Tree Health News 🌿 – Autumn 2018

For the latest edition Click here

September

For the latest Autumn edition Click here

May

South Norfolk Tree Wardens join forces with Poringland & District Men’s Shed

The PDMS is working with an ex military cafe in Bowthorpe to build a sensory garden. As part of the project SNTWN provided hedging ans some labour in the form of our Chairman, Henry Gowman. 

April

As we come to the end of the planting season we have, as a Network, contributed to the planting of over 5,000 trees since we formed. A formidable achievement!

March

The South Norfolk Tree Warden Network is delighted to announce that we have been able to support The Surlingham Orchard Project with some funding. This is an excellent project that is being organised and supported by the local community. You can follow their progress on the village website.

 

February

Following enquiries concerning tree works alongside the A146 the following information may be useful to you:

For clarification, SNC does not have a highways team; Norfolk County Council is the Highways Authority and has jurisdiction of all the district’s road, with the exception of the trunk roads A47 and A11 (though not the section from Thickthorn to Norwich) which come under Highways England.

Date for the diary – Saturday 14th April

We have been invited to the  Suffolk Tree Warden Network Spring Forum at the Red Feather Club and Redlingfield Wood, Denham, near Eye, Suffolk. More details will be posted on the website soon. These are now posted on the Events page.

Michael Hall – Scole Tree Warden 

It is with sadness that we have to tell you of the death of Michael Hall who together with his wife Shirley has been a Tree Warden in his village of Scole for many years, lately assisted by Chris Brooks. He was a font of knowledge, which he happily shared and a true supporter of trees. He was jointly responsible for planting many, many trees and when SNC handed over the baton for the Tree Warden Scheme to the Wardens, he and Shirley were an asset to the newly formed committee, only standing down because of increasing health issues.
His memorial will be the trees he has planted which will stand for hundreds of years to come.

Chris Brooks his fellow Tree Warden said: He will be a great loss to me and his many personal friends and family as well as the organisations that he has supported for so many years. I hope to continue with all the projects that he and I have worked together on over the last few years. I just wish I had had more time to assimilate more of his vast knowledge on so many subjects.

 

The February edition of Tree Guardian is now available here

 

Root Die Back

Jamie Foster who was our guest speaker at last November’s forum has seen more than 200 mature trees that have blown over in the recent winds. In every case the shear roots have snapped or rotted away. To read Jamie’s report click here 

Jamie has also documented his recent findings of Xylem Rot.Click here 

 January

Need some inspiration to plant trees? Just watch this!

Pollarding in Hales & Heckingham – report from Phil Grimes

Hello all

There was a lot of discussion at the South Norfolk Tree Warden Network last year about ash dieback and the benefits of pollarding, not just in response to disease but also to promote longevity in healthy trees. A request was made for each parish to consider pollarding one (or more) trees as part of this initiative.

It was decided by Hales & Heckingham Parish Council to carry out reduction work on an ash tree in Heckingham churchyard which had shown some signs of dieback. In actual fact, more recent inspection shows little or no evidence of disease on the tree, but it was decided to proceed with the work anyway for the other benefits.

The work was carried out today by Dale with myself assisting and getting in the way, so many thanks to Dale. Of course, this is only a very minor contribution in the grand scale of things, but we felt it was worthwhile. Any healthy cuttings were stacked on site in a quiet corner of the churchyard to provide extra habitat, so this was another benefit.

I’ve attached two before and two after photos, and we will continue to monitor the tree in future. These photos may be used freely for any relevant purpose.

Regards

Phil Grimes

Hales & Heckingham Parish Council