treeblog - All posts tagged: anniversaries

That’s right! A whole three years have passed since I first planted the Set A seeds. I started it all off with a packet of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) seeds that I was given at a careers fair, a packet of cider gum (Eucalyptus gunnii) seeds that I borrowed from uni, and a handful of grey alder (Alnus incana) seeds that I collected on a field trip. To demonstrate just how much the Set A trees have changed since I planted them on the 28th of March 2007, I’ve assembled three mini-timelines. The Scots pine and grey alder assemblages of are followed by normal-sized contemporary photographs, taken this afternoon. I haven’t photographed the cider gums yet, but I expect to get them later in the week. I’ll give them a separate treeblog update of their own.

To represent Pinus sylvestris, here’s Scots pine Alpha:

…and here’s the other Scots pine, Gamma. The buds on the Scots pines haven’t started swelling yet, but I’m anticipating another massive growth spurt in May.

… and here are the rest of the grey alders. This is No. 1 - the tallest of the bunch. The black bar is to mark the maximum height of the tree, as the leading twig doesn’t really stand out very well from the background. I apologise for the miserable colours (I upped the brightness and contrast), but it was the only available plain(ish) backdrop big enough to do the job!

And here’s a look at the bark on No. 4’s trunk. It’s awesome, isn’t it, the way the outer layer of bark peels back from around the lenticels to form all those little diamonds?

These have been the first photos of the Set A trees on treeblog since August last year! That is a pretty poor show on my part, but to be honest the growing season had near enough ended by then so the trees have changed little in the intervening period. Well, the alders lost their leaves, but deciduous trees have a habit of doing that.

The Scots pines are doing well. So are the alders, but they have outgrown the garden and need to be planted somewhere asap before the growing season is upon us. Where though? Some of the cider gums have been damaged by frost, and some of them need larger pots. Nos. 6 and 15 look to have been killed off by the frost, but I said that about Nos. 3 and 15 last year but they bounced back. And the post-Set A unknown seedling, now thought to be a goat willow? How’s that doing?

First signs of spring: alder and hazel catkins. A brief update on the treeblog trees.

Winter’s grip on the countryside is finally loosening! The weather may still be nasty, but the days are getting longer and the local alders and hazels have been blasting out their male catkins. The hazels in particular look rather spiffing, their pale yellow lambs’ tails creating welcome splashes of colour in an otherwise bleak treescape.

More male hazel catkins, or lambs’ tails. These photos were taken beside Broomhead Reservoir on Tuesday.

This year’s developing male catkins (cigar-shaped) and last year’s woody female catkins (egg-shaped) on an overhead alder (Alnus glutinosa) branch.

And now for a brief update on the treeblog trees, neglected on this blog for far too long. Sad face.

The two Scots pines look fine. The four grey alders are covered in buds; the top of grey alder No. 4 is dead, as suspected in September. Most of the cider gums look alright, although a few of them have picked up a bit of a lean. Cider gums Nos. 1 and 15 look like they have suffered some serious frost damage. Will they survive? No. 15 took a lot of frost damage last year and survived… The post-Set A goat willow (the seedling formerly known as PSAUS) has some nice big buds.

Most of the downy birches have just started opening their tiny little buds. A few of them may have died, and some of them look to have had their roots exposed over the winter, so some replanting may be in order this weekend.

Set C’s downy birch No. 2 on Tuesday (16th February – 342 days after planting), standing a fine one-inch tall.

None of the sweet chestnuts or beechnuts, planted in the autumn, have sprouted yet. I’m aiming to plant my rowan seeds, the other component of Set D, in March. They are currently undergoing pretreatment.

Second Anniversary of the planting of treeblog's Set A

Aye, today is the Second Anniversary of the planting of treeblog’s Set A. Those two years have gone by in a flash, but, paradoxically, it seems at the same time as if an age has passed since I put those seeds under the soil. To commemorate that occasion, I have laboured to put together a photographic summary for each of Set A’s constituent species: Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), grey alder (Alnus incana), and cider gum (Eucalyptus gunnii). These summaries consist of twelve sequential photos of a representative from each species; the first photos show seeds on the day of planting, the final photos show the trees today, and the other ten show intermediate stages. I’m quite proud of how much the Set A trees have grown over the course of just two years, particularly the alders.

Representing Pinus sylvestris, here’s Scots pine Alpha:

Pretty nifty, eh? And just think: a year from now you could be looking back on three years of Set A!

Set C update – Day 17 (today): No sign of germination yet.

treeblog’s Second Anniversary

The crown of a beech (Fagus sylvatica) in winter. This photograph is contemporary with treeblog’s beginnings. It was taken in Edinburgh on the 3rd of February 2007, probably on Oswald Road in the Grange.

Today is a special day for treeblog; two years have passed since the first post here was published. Revisiting that post today, it reads like a manifesto. I laid down my intentions for this blog, and I have stuck by them.

The purpose of treeblog - the point of its existence - is to form a chronology of the development of a group of trees, right from being planted as seeds or nuts. To chart their development from germination to maturity… supposing that they don’t die before they get there.

And that is what I have being doing. Of course there is much more to this blog. I post the occasional sciencey bit, the occasional newsy bit, and more often than not I post sets of photographs I have taken on walks. But the treeblog trees remain the core of this site.

I planted seeds from three species on the 28th of March 2007. This Set A consisted of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), cider gum (Eucalyptus gunnii), and grey alder (Alnus incana). It was largely a success; almost two years later, two Scots pines, fifteen cider gums, and four grey alders are still going strong. View their progress via the Photo-timelines, or read all relevant posts here. I haven’t given a proper update on Set A since the end of November, mainly because the trees change so little throughout the winter, but expect something in the near future.

Fifty weeks after Set A was planted, it was Set B’s turn. This time seeds and nuts came from downy birch (Betula pubescens), mountain pine (Pinus mugo), European beech (Fagus sylvatica), weeping beech (F. sylvatica var. pendula), and sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa). Unfortunately, Set B was an embarrassing failure. Only one downy birch germinated, and it quickly died.

What will treeblog’s third year hold? The planting of Set C is a certainty. I’m going to have another attempt with sweet chestnuts, which I collected from the same tree as I did the Set B nuts. This time, I collected a lot more. I’m also reattempting birch, but whether or not I’ll be planting downy birch or silver birch (B. pendula) seeds I’m not yet sure. I’m having a bit of trouble deciding on what species the parent tree belongs to, y’see. The last time I saw it (about a fortnight ago), I was leaning towards silver. Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) will complete the set. I don’t want to fail this time!

Enough of looking forwards, let’s have a look behind us. Last year, on treeblog’s first anniversary, I listed ten quite good posts from the inaugural annum. This time I’m listing just five fairly interesting posts from the past twelvemonth:

Thetford silver birch provenance trial (Part 1) (4th March 2008), in which I gather data for my dissertation.

Collecting berries from a favourite rowan, Upper Midhope (17th August 2008), in which I am dismayed at the fall of one of my favourite trees.

A wander in Millstones Wood (24th October 2008), in which I show off some very autumnal photos.

Five favourite photos from 2008 (11th January 2009), in which I explain my five favourite treeblog photos from last year.

Festival of the Trees 32 (1st February 2009), in which I have the pleasure of hosting this month’s edition of the FOTT.

And so begins a third year of tree blogging!

treeblog Set A - One-Year Anniversary!

Today is the first anniversary of the planting of treeblog's Set A! In celebration of their first year in earth, I have prepared this special post to list the major milestones that they have experienced so far.

Day 0 (28th March, 2007) The day of treeblog's inaugural plantage! Seeds of three species were planted as Set A: cider gum (Eucalyptus gunnii Hook. f.); grey alder (Alnus incana (L.) Moench); and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). The Scots pine seeds came from a packet given to me by a representative of the Forestry Commission at a University of Edinburgh careers fair in October 2006. The cider gum seeds came from a packet liberated from a university lab session in February 2007. The grey alder seeds were collected on a university field trip in February 2007.

Day 30 (27th April, 2007) Cider gum and grey alders had definitely sprouted by this day. There was no sign of any seedlings six days earlier on Day 24 (21st April, 2007).

Day 31 (28th April, 2007) Nine cider gums and four grey alders had sprouted so far.

Day 38 (5th May, 2007) Some of the grey alder and cider gum seedlings had gone missing! Cause unknown; probably slugs. The first Scots pine seedling is thought to have sprouted.

Day 47 (14th May, 2007) The Alpha Scots pine had definitely sprouted by this day.

Day 55 (22nd May, 2007) The Beta Scots pine had definitely sprouted by this day. Alpha Scots pine has grown fast, but worries were raised about about the apparent lack of growth in the alder and cider gum seedlings.

Day 69 (5th June, 2007) The above ground parts of the Beta Scots pine were devoured in the night! The surviving seedlings (one Scots pine, three cider gums, four grey alders) plus the Beta Scots pine root and a germinated alder seed were transplanted from seed trays into individual pots.

Day 87 (23rd June, 2007) The second wave of cider gums, consisting of six new seedlings, is transplanted from the seed trays into individual pots. A further cider gum (Number 10) is left behind in the seed trays because of its 'sickly and runtish form'. Despite exceptionally wet weather, the treeblog seedlings 'don't appear to be suffering from any adverse effects'.

Day 89 (25th June, 2007) The day of the Great Sheffield Flood! The treeblog seedlings were not swept away, but they were sitting (some partially submerged) in water-saturated soil. 'One of the poor cider gum seedlings had keeled over and was stuck, submerged, to the soil. I righted it as best I could and it appears to have recovered somewhat.'

Day 95 (1st July, 2007) The Beta Scots pine root and the germinated grey alder seed were pronounced 'missing, presumed dead'.

Day 103 (9th July, 2007) The third wave of cider gums, consisting of a further six new seedlings, is transplanted from the seed trays into individual pots. The 'sickly and runtish' Number 10 'no longer looks sickly, but has its first set of proper leaves on the go'.

Day 122 (28th July, 2007) A third (Gamma) Scots pine is discovered! I transplanted it into an individual pot on Day 124 (30th July, 2007). The Alpha Scots pine was also repotted, correcting its lean.

Day 130 (5th August, 2007) On this day I carried out a review of all the cider gums. All are noted to be doing well, with the exception of Numbers 3, 6 and 15.

Day 154 (29th August, 2007) Grey alder Number 4 is easily the largest of all the seedlings, a fact that holds to this very day. The other three alders are still small, but the Alpha Scots pine has corrected its lean. The tall cider gums are looking rather spindly, but the weird Number 3 is putting out plenty of lateral growth.

Day 202 (16th October, 2007) The 'treeblog surprises' were revealed to be common alders [Update (August 2008): they are actually grey alders].

Day 221 (4th November, 2007) Autumn is seen to be beginning to turn the grey alders' leaves brown.

Day 264 (17th December, 2007) For the cider gums, Number 6 is still a runt and Number 3 is still a freak, but Number 15 is doing well. Numbers 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, and 14 are all noted as being tall – although 12 and 14 are a bit wonky. All the grey alders are leafless (except for Number 3, which still has one green leaf). Two seedlings are discovered to have sprouted in the grey alder tray! But are they really alders or are they sneaky birches?

Day 319 (10th February, 2008) The two new 'alders' are transplanted into a pot.

Day 351 (13th March, 2008) The grey alders' buds are just beginning to open, as are the buds of the two 'alders' that may be birches.

Day 366 (28th March, 2008) Today - the first anniversary of treeblog's inaugural planting!

treeblog: One-Year Anniversary

One year ago to the day, the first post appeared on treeblog. In it, I stated that the purpose of treeblog is to 'form a chronology of the development of a group of trees, right from being planted as seeds or nuts. To chart their development from germination to maturity… supposing that they don’t die before they get there'. So far treeblog has stuck to its purpose then. The first seeds were planted on the 28th of March 2007. This Set A consisted of cider gum, common alder and Scots pine seeds. Seedlings from all three species sprouted, and their progress has been tracked. It will continue to be tracked, and a new set of seeds will be added to treeblog in the spring!

Looking back over the first year of treeblog, I have picked out a selection of ten quite good posts that you may well have missed the first time around. Celebrate the anniversary and enjoy!

Mycorrhiza - a brief introduction
Sunday 11th March, 2007
Mycorrhizas! Those intimate mutualisms between fungi and plant root tissue.

Habitat fragmentation
Tuesday 13th March, 2007
Habitat fragmentation - a significant obstacle to the long-term conservation of biodiversity.

Branch shedding in mature beech trees
Thursday 3rd May, 2007
To live long, a tree must stay small...

The Plane Tree of Hippocrates
Friday 18th May, 2007
Is this the tree under which the great healer sat when he taught medicine to his disciples in the 5th century BC?

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) reproductive organs
Thursday 24th May, 2007
Flowers and cones.

Derwent Dam tree photographs
Saturday 16th June, 2007
During World War II, Derwent Reservoir was used for bombing practice by the RAFs 'Dambusters'...

Sweet chestnut - waiting for the nuts
Sunday 12th August, 2007
Unsuccessful attempts at getting sweet chestnuts for Set B.

Field trip to the Italian Alps (Part 1) and (Part 2)
Thursday 13th September, 2007 and Saturday 15th September, 2007
Learning about forestry in the Paneveggio Forest and spending time in the field collecting data.

Giant Yorkshire oak trees (1829)
Thursday 11th October, 2007
Massive oak trees, far bigger than any tree in Britain today!

Majesty, or the Fredville Oak (Kent, UK)
Friday 7th December, 2007
A stunning oak.

Okay, so that's eleven posts. But I'm counting the two Italian field trip posts as one. Why are there no treeblog seedling updates in that list? Because I plan to give Set A its own special list on its own one-year anniversary!

anniversaries

Third Anniversary of the planting of treeblog's Set A. treeblog update (Set A, Day 1096): Scots pines & grey alders.

First signs of spring: alder and hazel catkins. A brief update on the treeblog trees.

Second Anniversary of the planting of treeblog's Set A

treeblog’s Second Anniversary

treeblog Set A - One-Year Anniversary!

treeblog: One-Year Anniversary

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