Here is another selection of tree news articles from around the world. Click on each of the pictures if you would like to read the full stories.
Opposition to Scottish tree-planting scheme
Gamekeepers and mountaineers oppose a major tree-planting plan, says the Guardian…
– but writer says you can’t have too many trees
In a comment piece, Patrick Barkham disagrees with the opponents of the Scottish tree planting…
A surprising list of best cities for trees
The Business Insider UK finds the 12 top world cities for their trees and parks…
Trees are falling everywhere…
After the drought the storms hit LA
Storms in Southern California have toppled trees weakened by drought, reports the Los Angeles Daily News…
Outrage as trees ‘butchered’ on coast road
In New Zealand, native trees have been butchered along a coastal walkway, reports North Harbour News…
Trees crash in garden after council refused permission to fell them
A family in Burnley are fuming after trees fell on their garden – the council refused them permission to chop them down, says the Telegraph…
Tembusu tree kills woman in botanic garden
A woman was killed when a heritage tree fell on her in a Singapore botanic garden, says the BBC…
Writer mourns the Laund oak
In the Craven Herald Colin Speakman pays tribute to the Laund oak, felled in a gale…
Maps reveals Americans are farther from nature than ever before
An area of forest cover the size of Maine was lost in the US between 1990 and 2000, researchers have found – as reported in the Daily Mail…
Police hunt lime-tree poisoner
In Northumberland a tree poisoner has killed off century-old lime trees in an act of environmental sabotage, says the Telegraph…
There are some more positive stories…
Volunteers help save Lakes landscape
The Westmorland Gazette reports that volunteers have planted hundreds of trees at sensitive sites in the Lake District…
My cup of tea supports tree planting
This story has been staring me in the face several times a day – my favourite cuppa is Yorkshire Tea from Taylors of Harrogate – and they have cleverly rebranded it Yorkshire Tree for a campaign to plant a million trees over five years – with help from the Woodland Trust, hundreds of green-fingered children in the UK and Kenya and a dash of inspiration from The Gruffalo…
‘Bond’ saves tree despite neighbour’s complaints
In a reversal of the usual stories about celebrities and trees, Bond star Daniel Craig has won his fight to keep an 80ft tree in his garden, says MailOnline…
Ancient philosopher’s tree takes root in hospital garden
The oriental plane tree – Platanus orientalis var Insularis – is said to originate from the ancient Tree of Hippocrates on the Greek island of Kos and now there’s one in a hospital garden in Bath…
Indian city plants shade-giving trees
In Tiruchirapalli students have been making seed balls to be planted in areas where the invasive seemai karuvelam trees were uprooted across the city, says the Hindu…
Who’d have thought planting trees could be so political…
Palm trees divide opinion in Milan
The planting of Starbucks-sponsored palm trees in the centre of Milan has divided the city, because they are too kitsch or too African, says the Telegraph – and apparently one was burnt after right-wing protest marches.
Trees planted in middle of pitch
A council in Aberdeen has apologised after planting trees in the middle of a football pitch, says the Independent…
There’s science…
Shocking ‘dead forests’ of Colorado
Colorado’s beetle-infested forests are peppered with an estimated 834 million standing dead trees that threaten to worsen wildfires and degrade vital water supplies that flow from mountains, says the Daily Mail…
Foxes climb trees to kill koala babies
Around Sydney scientists have discovered that foxes have learned to climb trees to kill koalas, says New Scientist…
Plastic sapling guards may help trees survive climate change
A Mid Wales study finds that, contrary to expectations, plastic sleeves promote root stability and make trees more resilient to extreme weather, says the Daily Post…
History sheds light on Amazon’s rich diversity
The BBC reports that the rich diversity of trees in the Amazon could be the result of widespread dispersal over geological time…
Cottonwood inspires energy experiment
The Smithsonian says cottonwood (poplar) leaves inspired a scientist to experiment with an artificial energy tree…
There’s art…
Bronze birds of the New Forest
An exhibition in the New Forest (yes, I know it doesn’t have THAT many trees) features a series of striking bronze bird sculptures – including a towering 11ft tall peregrine falcon, says the Southern Daily Echo…
Delicate genius with a chainsaw
A talented artist carves trees into intricate masterpieces such as a detailed scene from Alice in Wonderland – using a chainsaw, says the Mirror…
And finally…
Man nails little wooden figures to trees
The Plymouth Herald reports on this chap, who is nailing figures to trees in Ham Woods…
The Squirrelbasket 
As always a very interesting selection of tree news. The link to the commentary “can’t have too many trees” is broken though and I would really like to read that one. I do ecological restoration across a variety of habitats in Washington State and much of what I do is remove trees! from habitats where they don’t belong. Yes as a matter of fact you CAN have too many trees. Some ecosystems are naturally tree-less or have very few trees and many species of plants and animals need those open treeless habitats, which are rare here in the Evergreen State. Afforestation, the planting of trees where they don’t occur naturally, has to be very very carefully considered before shovel meets soil. What species will you be displacing by planting trees? Many ground nesting birds need the open space. Trees give predatory birds a place to stake out the neighborhood and prey on helpless nestlings as well as rodents and insects. Trees also shade out cold blooded ground dwelling critters like amphibians, reptiles, and butterflies that depend on sunlight warming bare soil, as well as shading out the grasses and wildflowers that need sun.
For a couple of real life examples, the Oregon Spotted Frog needs sun-warmed shallow water to lay its eggs in, which means no trees. But, people like to plant trees in any open space here! to control a couple of invasive plants that can’t tolerate shade, and in the mistaken idea that the whole state was once covered 100% with forest. So the spotted frog egg laying habitat is steadily shrinking as people plant trees, thinking they’re doing the right thing when really they’re just clueless. The frog is on our Endangered Species list now. An endangered bird, the ground-nesting Streaked Horned Lark, loses its nestlings to ravens and hawks with even one or two trees in its nesting areas. We’re talking one tree per 10 acres. The birds sit in a tree and watch the larks to find the nests, then swoop in when the parents leave to gather food. Normally their nesting areas have no trees at all.
Love your tree news collections! I do plant trees where they do belong. I nearly cried when I discovered that someone had stolen a douglas-fir tree that was nearly 4 feet in diameter from one of our recovering forests. One huge, many-centuries-old tree left as a habitat tree when the forest had been logged 30 years ago, and someone cut it down and hauled it off to sell to a mill. For the police report I had to put down a dollar value – that tree was priceless.
Thanks for all that – puts things in perspective!
And I have now fixed the link – it was just because I omitted the “https://” part at the beginning. Oops!
You are obviously right in many ways about trees in the wrong place and I am gradually hardening myself not to flinch every time I see felled trees. In fact only yesterday I realised that a traffic roundabout (I’m not sure what you call them in America) I pass every day has had all its trees chopped to stumps. But I think on this occasion it’s good news as it marks the start of work to improve the traffic layout in that very congested area…
All the best – and thanks for your interest 🙂
Blaming beetle killed trees for increased wildfire danger – there’s a case of the pot calling the kettle black. The beetles are killing so many trees because the forests have been badly mismanaged, and the main culprit is the virtual elimination of wildfire in the past, which kept the forests thin enough that the remaining trees could grow well and cope with drought and pests. Western forests are badly overcrowded and the trees are stressed as a result. The beetles are just trying to return the forests to more functional stocking levels. Smokey the Bear has not been a good friend to the forests.
That’s an interesting, thoughtful view on the subject!
Always two side to any argument…
Best wishes 🙂
Great selection, Pat, thanks. The SUNY work on deforestation in the US, especially in the rural west, was interesting. They didn’t mention, but there’s been significant clearing of junipers (“cedars”) in the western US, to improve grazing–could be a contributing factor. As for the uproar over palms in Milan … seems folks get upset over all kinds of little things! But then I grew up in coastal California where palms are really common in city landscaping.
Interesting that you call some junipers cedars.
You might read Regina’s comments on this post, which also suggest some problems are man-made in the first place!
As for the attack on palms, Europe is full of xenophobia at the moment, because of the knock-on effect of Middle Eastern troubles.
All the best 🙂
Palm trees are a cliche in Cape Town. My neighbour has one whose fronds I lop when they poke into my view and garden.
I guess they are a cliche in some of our British seaside resorts, too.
At times I think I must try to identify all the different sorts of palm, as it’s an area I am pretty ignorant about.
All the best 🙂