February 1st - February 14th

It's always a sure sign of Spring being around the corner in that our Hamamelis x intermedia Arnold Promise at both Barcham and in my garden started to flower this week. Next to show will be Cornus mas in March followed by Betula ermanii foliage emerging by April. We have now potted over 52,000 trees this season and with only another 23,000 to go we should be finished by Easter. Our reservoirs are completely full, much to the delight of our resident King Fisher.

I have been trying to get the powers that be to get Mark Johnson's valuable work 'Trees in Towns 2' to be circulated in Hard Copy rather than in its current form of CD which is a non starter to read from. Nothing but bureaucratic red tape as excuses have emerged so far and if anyone wishes to support this cause please e mail me to add weight to my argument. To my mind the research has been done and paid for so why hold back this important information? I'm sure it would add weight to every arborist wanting to protect or enhance the green environment. Keith is going over to New York to view their successful model as the arguments seem to be won already out there on the benefits of tree cover within the urban environment. More on this to follow in the coming weeks.

All the best

Mike

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