Tree management

I am not a fan of cutting down trees but sometimes it has to be done. Our allotment is very old - I have seen it on maps of Sunniside village from the 1890s. The hedge around it is very mature and contains some hefty hawthorn. It needs to be managed or otherwise it will reduce the productivity of the plot. Later this year we will cut the hedge back to about 2 metres in height. Two ash trees however had taken root in the hedge in the south corner of the allotment. I reckon they were about 15 years old. That meant they were seeded around the time the allotment went out of use. We came onto the plot 4 years ago when it was derelict. Once the trees - both ash - were in leaf a few weeks ago, we realised they had to come down. They were completely overshadowing bed 4 from about 10am onwards. Bed 4 is the site for the polytunnel we are building so leaving the trees up would mean direct sunlight here for only a short while in the early morning. So they had to come down. I felled them on Monday.



This is me taking the branches off one of the trees. You can see how the raised bed (which will be the basis of the polytunnel) is put in the shade by the trees.

Another big tree management job is coming up. On the north side of the allotment we have some trees that are heavily overhanging the allotment. It means climbing up to lob off a few branches. Oh joy!