Birch, its twigs tipped with tiny catkins Birch has elegance with an open structure and a cascade of fine twigs tipped with tiny catkins. The crown has a hint of amethyst in winter, a distinctive hue. Catkins flower in a golden-green haze when leaf-buds open. But they're a subtlety and you have to look for them.
Bewitching birch whose twigs can be made into besoms used by gardeners to sweep fallen leaves from grass. Birch twigs are seasoned for the broom and its handle is bound with hazel or willow.
Bewitching birch whose twigs can be made into besoms used by gardeners to sweep fallen leaves from grass. Birch twigs are seasoned for the broom and its handle is bound with hazel or willow.
Dense clusters of fine twigs (the tree's response to a pathogen), are known as witch's broom. Harry Potter's broomstick is named Nimbus 2000, a flight into the clouds. Catkins follow this flight-of-fancy motif. And no visit to SIzergh would be quite perfect without sitting in the sun in the vegetable garden and sharing a bench with Charlie the black cat who is the most amiable of creatures and everyone's familiar. The beech hedge chirrups with sparrows but Charlie is content to lie in a lap for a while, then to jump down and do his stretches.
Hazel are the most familiar catkins because they are early-flowering, well before the leaves appear. And the pendent male catkins come in a shower of golden pollen. Tiny female flowers are rarer and harder to see. In the Sizergh woods there is neglected hazel coppice. A well-managed coppice opens up clearings in a woodland, enabling sunlight to reach down to the herb layer and to bring forth spring flowers- before the trees are fully in leaf and light is reduced by foliage. Glades of flowers attract butterflies so coppicing is crucial to management of the woods for butterflies. In summer, Silver Washed Fritillary will be on the wing.
Hornbeam catkins are not yet showing. The trees surround the Sizergh cafe and once we came upon a little boy excited to find the grass beneath a hornbeam thick with 'caterpillars.' And why not? Caterpillars feast on fresh buds high in the trees. The hornbeam had shed not caterpillars but catkins.
We're hoping snowdrops will be in bloom but these trees are so lovely against a blue sky with a scatter of white cloud.
Hazel are the most familiar catkins because they are early-flowering, well before the leaves appear. And the pendent male catkins come in a shower of golden pollen. Tiny female flowers are rarer and harder to see. In the Sizergh woods there is neglected hazel coppice. A well-managed coppice opens up clearings in a woodland, enabling sunlight to reach down to the herb layer and to bring forth spring flowers- before the trees are fully in leaf and light is reduced by foliage. Glades of flowers attract butterflies so coppicing is crucial to management of the woods for butterflies. In summer, Silver Washed Fritillary will be on the wing.
Hornbeam catkins are not yet showing. The trees surround the Sizergh cafe and once we came upon a little boy excited to find the grass beneath a hornbeam thick with 'caterpillars.' And why not? Caterpillars feast on fresh buds high in the trees. The hornbeam had shed not caterpillars but catkins.
We're hoping snowdrops will be in bloom but these trees are so lovely against a blue sky with a scatter of white cloud.
Age, frailty and winter storms must have brought down this senescent hawthorn. Two years ago on a sunny day in January we marvelled at its contorted boughs. It looks like Nature's Angel of the North, anguished arthritic limbs outstretched. The twisted trunk is deformed with bosses. And there are nest- holes for small birds, their entrances filled to keep out intruders. In winter, fieldfare and redwing fed on its haws. SIzergh estate has many ancient trees and this one was a wonder and a marvel. During its long life it served as home to birds, invertebrates and insects. It's riddled with bore-holes, bored to death - you may say.
Walking beside the flailed hawthorn hedge, toward the castle, we regret coppicers have not been employed to lay the hedge well. And I reflect how time has transformed the fallen senescent hawthorn into something so unlike its younger self. 100-150 years for an old hawthorn, and the oldest recorded tree might be 400 years.
Walking beside the flailed hawthorn hedge, toward the castle, we regret coppicers have not been employed to lay the hedge well. And I reflect how time has transformed the fallen senescent hawthorn into something so unlike its younger self. 100-150 years for an old hawthorn, and the oldest recorded tree might be 400 years.
Willow grows in willow carr, in boggy ground where a beck flows into a lake. On a bright day, when the sun shines onto the tree directly, its crown is a beautiful rosy hue. The effect is caused by new shoots which are deep red in colour and at this season its catkins gleam in the sun.
Alder also grows here in saturated ground. Its crowns are richly coloured and thick with catkins. There's much variety in alder trees, some have catkins that seem soon to flower, others are dark and dense in texture. Search amongst the twigs and there are last summer's cones, male catkins and clusters of tiny female flowers- often in threes.
There's a whistling of widgeon from the pool not far from Holeslack Farm and they feed with teal and moorhen in aquatic vegetation. Woodpecker are drumming high in ivy-clad trees and the sound resonates but we cannot see them. The herb layer is lovely with snowdrops and the green shoots of bluebells spike up through the earth. Another bluebell wood to add to the map.
There's a whistling of widgeon from the pool not far from Holeslack Farm and they feed with teal and moorhen in aquatic vegetation. Woodpecker are drumming high in ivy-clad trees and the sound resonates but we cannot see them. The herb layer is lovely with snowdrops and the green shoots of bluebells spike up through the earth. Another bluebell wood to add to the map.
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