News from the world of trees 2018 #1

Here is my first round-up of tree news articles from around the world in 2018. Click on each of the pictures if you would like to read the full stories.

50 million trees to be planted in the North

In early January the UK Government announced that an English Northern Forest of 50 million trees is to be planted between Liverpool and Hull – the Telegraph reports…

A helping hand for Tufty

A project to reintroduce red squirrels to their old forest homes in the Scottish Highlands is being carried out by the Trees For Life charity, says MailOnline…

Mild spell brings out the syrup tappers

In New York State early warm spells are drawing some maple syrup producers into the woods to tap, long before the usual maple weekend events in late March, reports Lancaster Farming…

Vicar chains herself to tree in HS2 protest

I am reminded of suffragettes by this story of a vicar chaining herself to a London plane tree as a protest against felling for the HS2 line – the Guardian reports…

Protected trees felled in Freshwater East

An investigation has begun after dozens of protected trees were illegally felled in Wales’s Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, reports the BBC…

Sheffield tree protest poisoning claims

Police were investigating a ‘poisoned tea’ plot last week after workmen controversially chopping down trees in Sheffield fell ill, according to the Telegraph…

Tree planting ‘could protect railways’

Foresters in Scotland suggest trees could be used to protect trains from mudslides, says the BBC…

Doomed trees reborn as art in Fairytale Square

To residents of one Warsaw neighborhood, the rotting trees in Fairytale Square didn’t deserve a sad ending, so several metres of the trees’ weak trunks were allowed to remain standing and carved into playful sculptures, reports MailOnline…

Starling trees felled after police complaint about poo

Bird lovers in Hampshire have been left enraged after the council cut down trees home to thousands of starlings, allegedly after complaints from police officers about excrement on their cars, says the i…

Is office of the future full of trees?

Second Home is reinventing office life, according to the Guardian…

Money grows on trees for these businesses

GreenBiz reports on 14 businesses making money out of forest conservation…

Adding fruit to their cereal crop

Farmers in Cambridgeshire are planting rows of fruit trees in their cereal fields to provide both windbreaks and alternate crops, says the Guardian…

Toppled London plane is one of many

Many trees have been brought down across the UK in January’s storms, but I was particularly taken by this whopper reported in the Nottingham Post…

Property developer jailed for ‘brutal’ damage to native trees

A property developer in New Zealand has been jailed for two-and-a-half months for damaging native trees, according to Scottish Construction Now…

Wooden skyscrapers on the horizon

Strong, clean and versatile, engineered timber is the ‘new concrete’ for building, says the Guardian…

Protests against park tree felling

Here in Cardiff Natural Resources Wales has come under fire for felling trees in Waterloo Gardens, reports WalesOnline…

Blizzard of lizards fall from the trees

Frozen iguanas are falling from the trees in Florida – but the New York Times says they may live…

Growing tiny trees in Texas

Every town has its bonsai society – but here is just a sample of images from San Anotnio in Texas, featured on MySA…

Japanese fight suicide in ‘Sea of Trees’

Long before YouTube star Logan Paul brought renewed notoriety to this primeval forest at the foot of Mount Fuji by posting a video of a body hanging from a tree, local officials fought to reverse Aokigahara’s bleak reputation as one of Japan’s top suicide destinations, says the Independent…

Toon fans’ tree has moment in the sun

Reminding us that no tree is too humble, this one near St James’ Park football ground in Newcastle features in a tree photograph exhibition at the city’s museum, reports the Chronicle…

‘Racist’ windbreak to be removed

Palm Springs officials have decided to remove a row of controversial tamarisk trees which sit between a historically black neighborhood and a city owned golf course, according to the Desert Sun…

Hill house among the trees

A living space surrounded by glass walls and an open-air bath house are among five buildings that are scattered across a forested site to form this home in South Korea’s Sunchang County, says Dezeen,,,

Guards protect against storm-water runoff

A bit obvious, but researchers at Columbia University found that street trees protected by guards that stopped passersby from trampling the surrounding soil absorbed runoff water more quickly than trees in unprotected pits, according to Phys.org…

Aussie wine with a whiff of gum tree

According to Adelaide Now, Australia’s eucalyptus trees add a unique character to the wine grown there…

Trees cleared to improve trout stream

In Wisconsin the Leader-Telegram reports on volunteer efforts to clear box-elder from a trout stream to improve water quality…

And finally…

Walnuts allowed to fall from tree

(DW) Deutsche Welle reports that a German court has ruled it is natural for walnuts to fall off trees (and damage the neighbour’s car)…