Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve, near Yate and Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire.


The Nature Reserve is run by the Wapley Bushes Conservation Group, a small group of volunteers.

Thursday, March 05, 2020

Wapley trees getting "royal treatment" with coronet cut



You may have noticed that tree surgery has been carried out recently on several trees that are suffering from ash dieback disease. They have been cut back to "monoliths" 6 metres high, and the tops have been cut into splintered shapes.

This is called "coronet cut" - it imitates the natural fractures that would happen if the decaying trees failed under storm conditions, instead of simple straight cuts. The greater surface area provides a microhabitat for insects, fungi and microorganisms. The insects will be a great food source for our local bird life.

Apparently in Sweden they experimented with achieving this effect using explosives. We decided that this wouldn't be a good idea for Wapley...

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