What’s so hard about soil

by | Mar 22, 2021 | Nature, Soil and soil science, Trees

When I was a young horticulturalist each and every soils teacher seemed to say something along the lines of ‘soil is soil and dirt is what you get under your fingernails’, some of them would go on to say that they were taught that, but it ‘reflected...

When 5, which is 6 becomes 8

by | Aug 23, 2020 | Nature, Trees

I have a wisteria that grows and grows, but where it goes nobody knows. I train it and shape it to follow a plan but it still it grows to follow its nose… and I don’t know why. As a self-respecting arborist, I dislike vines – with the exception of grapevines and...

Pruning by numbers

by | Nov 30, 2018 | Nature, Trees

For the past few months I have been writing pruning specifications, or more correctly I have been removing pruning specifications.  I’d love to say it’s a less-is-more situation, but I’ve actually been writing more to inform the reader of less – why less is...

Wicked planting

by | Oct 27, 2018 | Nature, Trees

I bet builders hate home-renovation shows. They must cringe as DIY celebrities Buff and Fluff [skills not included] randomly wave power tools around with seeming disregard to the rules and regulations that professionals must comply with. I also cringe at...

Too much soil in your soil

by | Sep 30, 2018 | Nature, Trees

As I write this, I’m flying back from the UK after attending the Arboricultural Association’s annual conference; Soil and Trees.  It was a fantastic conference, well worth the effort and it was truly an honour to be able to speak at it.   Soil compaction was a...

Into the rabbit hole

by | Jul 9, 2018 | Nature, Trees

I love the fact that trees don’t read books and that the laws of nature don’t always seem to apply to nature. I love this, and to serve as a constant reminder I have my very own illiterate disobedient tree in my backyard. It is a cutting from an old apple tree. The...