Heres a few new images of Our Eurpean beech, mainly Epping forest, some from Windsor Great Park and one or two from Knole Park all taken within the last three weeks, I tend to get around a bit! I am very fortunate to live within a short drive of some of Europe's most amazing and ancient woodlands, where man has been the driving force in the creation of unique habitats, the likes of which are rarely seen elsewhere. There are those that say that our European beech, Fagus sylvatica is a fragile beast that cant be pruned, this is of course utter nonsense and the beech is as capable a survivor as any, as youll no doubt see here! True beeches are sensitive and need a little care in management, but as long as they are understood anything is achievable.
pruning trees is not a blanket situation, it is a species specific situation, an Oak or an ash that are high demanding of light require different approaches to the shade tolerant woodland species such as beech, which with their thin bark can be highly sensitive to over exposure to light.
A fine Pollard in Epping forest
Epping forest is home to 10's of thousands of Beech pollards
defying the laws of gravity is an art!
Very ancient beech probably in excess of 500years with Ganoderma Sp and Perenniporia fraxinea
Inonotus cuticularis, beech is its favourite host species though this can also be found occasionally on Acer Sp including Acer campestre
A beech tree that I have been stage pollarding as a compromise to felling, the client was feeling the tree was too large for the location and this is just before the second stage as you can see it is responding well
European beech is a fragile genus? yeah right, a natural pollard!
A beech freed from forest now filling out to become and open grown specimen.
An included bark union long since failed, now occlusion tissues (embryonic) form into re iterative roots due to contact with moist rotting wood rather than exposure to light which may have caused the tissues to differentiate into shoots (retrenchment)
Ganadorma sp, probably G. australe aka the southern bracket on ancient beech
The Ganoderma colonised Beech with clear die back and retrenchment, if the tree can shed enough wieght before the ganoderma causes a failure in the main union she may go on for a lot lot longer.
