Autumn is a wonderful time to visit the woods, all those wonderful colours as the leaves turn..... It won't surprise many of you that my favourite woods to wander through in Autumn are the Colinton and Craiglockart Dells along the Water of Leith. But Edinburgh has several other lovely areas of woodland including Hermitage of Braid and Corstorphine Hill.
If you're in the UK, you can find your nearest woodland from the Woodland Trust's Visit Woods website. You can find out how you can get involved more here.
The Woodland Trust are also interested in the plants and animals you see when you're out and about in the woods. You can find out how to help them record our woodland wildlife here.
You may have read recently that the UK's ash trees may be at threat from Chalara dieback disease. According to the Woodland Trust, this disease could be as devastating as Dutch Elm disease was. The Trust has agreed not to import ash trees, to avoid bringing the disease into the country. Ash trees are one of our commonest woodland trees and if they are severely affected by disease then potentially our woodland landscapes could be significantly damaged. This disease joins many other diseases including sudden oak death and horse chestnut bleeding canker as threats to our woodlands.
So, join the Woodland Trust in campaigning to protect our woods, but also, get out there and enjoy them while we still can!
As ever, red text contains hyper-links that take you to other web-pages where you can find out more.
9 comments:
It's so sad that diseases are taking our precious trees!
Most interesting and useful post for me...I am taking note of these places for the end of the year hoping they won't be too much covered in ice and snow...
Thanks for the information concerning this very disturbing sickness... I hope that some of those trees will be able to resist... That is a very bad world, indeed, very sad... We are responsable for so much trouble, with our world trading...
An autumn walk in the woods. Now there's an idea! :)
I'm so sorry about the diseases threatening your woodlands....some of that here - There is a die-off of a lot of trees in the Rocky Mountains (makes them look all rusty colored before they die, so sad.).....
Good point made - what we use and enjoy we take better care of!
At the time of Dutch Elm Disease Juliet, we had three wonderful elm trees in our garden - it was so awful watching them die.
I am lucky that right outside my door is Switzerland's only woodland nature park, the Sihlwald. The philosophy is minimal intervention - walking paths have minimal upkeep, old trees are allowed to lean over and collapse, much of the wood is totally out of bounds for humans and dogs. It is a delightful place.
Sounds wonderful to take a walk in the Autumn woods. The leaves are slow to change here. Sorry to hear about the Ash tree disease. There are several insects here that can kill off the trees, it is sad. I hope you are having a great weekend!
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