What a load of old Logs

Yes it is really true. Nicholsons have started selling logs, and yes they really are "old". The best logs to burn on the fire are hardwood seasoned logs and these are all that is available. The logs have been seasoned for most of a year and come in 3 bag sizes and can be delivered. There is even a separate website for information: http://www.logs.gb.com/ -come and visit and see for yourself.

Nicholsons at the Globe

On Thursday 8 October The Woodland Trust hosted an evening function at the Globe Theatre, London. The event was a charity fundraiser with a host of celebs. Not least amongst the notaries were a group of well turned out natives from Nicholsons.

The trust had requested that we supply them with a selection of native trees and shrubs all looking their best. So, several oaks, beech, hornbeam, spindle, guelder rose, wayfaring and laurels all found themselves in the bright lights – and were even dressed in hessian for the occasion by the Trust volunteers. They helped add ambiance to a very successful evening for the trust whose auction raised substantial funds for their great work.

Could anybody in the know give some more history surrounding the oak tree that apparently – and obviously in the photo – is growing within the Globe Theatre?

Matt, Sam and Graham step up to the challenge.

The tree had a large cavity in the upper crown and numerous Inonotus Hisbidus fungi brackets from within the crown. A climbing inspection was undertaken and the resistograph micro drill was used at 20 meters up to ascertain the extent of the decay. The tree officer was then happy with the evidence and agreed that this TPO’d tree should come down.

Over three days Matt, Sam and Graham took up the challenge of bringing this tree down to earth. Matt did a good job of dismantling it and Graham and Sam managed to keep up with the wood chipper. The pictures show Matt and Sam before doing the final felling cuts bringing the tree to the ground. The client won’t be short of firewood this winter!

Nicholsons Plants escape from the nursery.

Nicholsons Plants division were allowed to break free from the nursery yesterday to go on a trip out. We were privileged to have a guided tour of the Waddesdon Estate by the forestry manager, Pete. Pete showed us how well the trees and hedges, which we supplied to him over the years, were growing. It was very informative to see a 12 year old hedge planted from our bare rooted plants which had been laid 2 years ago now stood as a bushy, stock proof, Saxon mix hedge 2 years later. The Millenium oak arrow avenue (see picture) was a stunning site and can already be seen on Google maps. It was obvious that Pete and his team work with incredible effort and pride in their nurturing of the parkland.

The second picture shows woodland planting which is seven years old planted using all our trees and shrubs both in bare rooted and potted form. Species included cherry, copper beech, holly, larch, ash, Scots pine and even Davidia (the pocket handkerchief tree).

The third picture shows our transport for the day!!

After our tour of the parkland and woodland planting we were treated to a guided tour of the walled kitchen garden by the head gardener Sue. I have never seen such an aesthetically pleasing, productive kitchen garden ever before. The varieties and quality of vegetables were outstanding and it was nice to hear that the Rothschild family use them in their kitchens on a daily basis. There were unusual varieties of cabbage and potatoes; the greenhouses were full of tomatoes, peppers, aubergine and plants for the house. The fruit ranged from pot grown dessert cherries, peaches, grapes, nectarines and a pear and apple arched walkway to die for. Next came the cut flower area to provide flowers for the weekly, colour schemed flower arrangements.
A big thank you to Pete, Sue and all the staff for putting up with us and showing us around their outstanding areas. The experience was amazing and we have all learnt something new!

Too many trees to choose from...

Trees, trees and what a surprise another tree! It is that time of the year again when I get to break out of the office and visit the plant growers to reserve the tree and shrub stock for the new season. The purpose of the visits is to build a good relationship with other nurseries and find out how the horticultural industry is changing. I can then look at the quality of the plants and reserve the best to be delivered to us in the autumn. Nicholsons Plant Centre still has a sale on to clear out the current season’s stock then in September the sale’s area will be stocked again with a fresh supply of garden plants, ornamental trees, specimen trees and topiary.

A load of old bales!

Back in the 12th century a bishop of Winchester came up with the idea of throwing in a load of barley in a pond to keep it clear, and so 800 years on gardeners are still using this method.

The most efficient way of keeping ponds clear of algae is to semi-submerge barley straw wrapped up in Christmas tree netting, or in the case of some gardeners, in the lady of the house’s tights!

Barley straw rots down faster than other straws and as it rots down it uses up the available nitrogen in the water which algae needs to feed on and grow. So removing the nitrogen leaves very little for the algae to live on and leaves clear water. A very environmentally friendly use for the straw.

Visiting Chelsea

On a recent visit to Chelsea flower show my colleague and I were very impressed with Luciano Giubbilei’s Garden for Laurent–Perrier, with its simple clean lines and textural contrasts. For us it was the best large garden in the show with none of the busyness of The Daily Telegraph garden planting or strange sculptural shapes like the white Brussels sprout that appeared to have landed in the otherwise beautiful Cancer Research UK garden.

I love the small urban gardens-full of new ideas and fun with fresh details and colours. The Nature Ascending Garden was the best for me this year with its built in eco features and strong use of colour. The mix of rampant planting and restrained but stylish detailing made a perfect mix.

I found a lot of the Courtyard Gardens disappointing though, as on the whole they seem to simply reproduce a chunk of countryside that exists already. While this is technically quite clever it is as a photo is to a painting. I want to see inspired design and fabulous new ideas for small spaces-I want to see an exquisite little piece of art!

Of course the exception was The Freshly Prepped Garden by Aralia with its outdoor kitchen and luscious veggies (including the most photographed radish in the country). I wanted to take this one home! Imagine how much more time could be spent in the garden if the kitchen were outdoors and there was no need to keep popping back indoors for more Pimms . . .

(Karen's first blog entry, uploaded for her by Nicholsons)

New Grants for Forestry !

The Forestry Commission have made new grants available to assist tree planting and woodland management.
Supplements are now available for planting close to large centres of population ranging from £500 to £2000 per hectare on top of the 'standard' £1800 per hectare planting grant.
Woodland planning grants are now available with a minimum of £1000 being available per scheme to encourage woodland owners.
Farmers can also now claim the Single Farm Payment money as well as getting annual payments for 15 years on farm woodland.
A new budget for Woodland Improvement Grants has also been announced.
See our web site or speak to Tim or Mike in 'Forestry' for more details

Big Trees for Great Bourton

We were recently asked to plant 2 large container grown conifers at the rear of a property. The problem was that the trees were too large for the access routes.

The solution was to use a lorry mounted Hiab crane to move the trees in over a wall from the road. This actually made for a very rapid planting operation!

Seasoned logs for sale.

The Forestry tree surgery team are busy producing waste timber from their tree surgery works so with their new truck they are bringing it back to the yard. Matt then splits the logs into firewood and puts them into different sized bags to be stored in the polytunnel until they are seasoned. Nicholsons can now offer seasoned hardwood for sale and on each bag it will be stated when the trees were felled and the village of origin. So when you lay your fire think of those Oxfordshire logs and where they have come from. Please contact us for further information on prices.