It's been a while since my last post, sorry about that!
As part of my agreement with the Woodland Trust, I have to replace lost trees (subject to an acceptable 20% loss) so thought it best to have a record of how my trees are doing.
I'd previously marked a few tubes with red flag, made from wire and tape, but the numbers didn't last and it wasn't a very organised approach.
Whilst looking for numbered tags, I found a company online that produces personalised cable ties so I ordered 200, hoping that I wouldn't need that many. They also had an option for a company name, which I took:
I constructed some survey tables and printed them off. In the space of a few days I'd looked down every tube and counted every spiral. It was a bit difficult identifying some of the trees now the leaves have fallen (and working out what the dead ones should have been was especially hard) but I finally finished surveying the lot (over 1500) and am proud to announce that only 65 didn't make it, a loss rate of about 4%. I'm planning on "beating up" those that need replacing, with sweet chestnut and wild pear. The latter liking heavy soil and the former being unfussy about soil types.
I'll publish the full data list in due course.
