Charcoal Making at Harcourt Arboretum

Karl, Guy and Richard have had a very productive and successful start to the year with our charcoal kiln. The kiln was lit on Monday, and yesterday they anxiously lifted the lid. The following pictures say the rest. If you feel inspired by what you see, make sure you book onto our charcoal course Saturday 28th April!

Mexican Weeping Pine

Pinus patula Schlect. & Cham.

On a recent I.D.S visit to a private collection, we were shown a specimen of Pinus patula, its common name being ‘Mexican Weeping Pine’. It’s not the first time that I have seen this plant, but for me, this is the most mature specimen As its name would suggest, it’s a native of Mexico, first recorded and introduced in 1828. A six foot specimen was recorded by Loudon in 1837, which he found growing in the garden of A.B. Lambert.

Reaching an average height of 40-50 ft, it branches low and has a spreading rounded top when mature; old bark rough, with a reddish tinge. Its needles are grouped in bundles of three, occasionally in fours or fives, minutely toothed on the margins and can reach over nine inches.

One of the exciting elements to working at the University of Oxford, Harcourt Arboretum, is working through a variety of landscape issues. Botanic gardens and arboretums are living collections, which in turn results in certain plants being removed. Whilst I feel we have a responsibility to identify secondary and tertiary uses for the material generated from large tree removal, for example, it’s exciting (as well as incredibly important) to consider the next  generation of plants. I can’t help walking around other collections and having ‘plant envy’!

Pond Clearing

Here at Harcourt arboretum, not only do our trees and shrubs need ‘maintaining’, but other areas such as our pond on Acer walk, requires attention at time. Under the direction of Karl, arborist & ecologist, the team have spent two hours this morning clearing a third of vegetation from the pond. The remaining two thirds will be cleared over the next two years.

Conifer Ident

This week we have two Horticultural trainees at Harcourt, working as part of their year placement. As part of their week, they will be tested on their plant ident. The trainees will be here for three weeks in total over their year, so we’ll cover conifers this week, with trees, shrubs and wild flowers covered in subsequent weeks. Below are a few photos of plants on their list for this week.

Video Short

The first time I met Waldo, was a few years ago at Westonbirt whilst he was on one of Canopy Access‘s BCAP Courses. I remember being at the cafe and turning around to be met by the soles of his shoes at face level, as whilst waiting for his food, Waldo was walking on his hands. His energy hasn’t diminished, if anything, it seems to be increasing exponentially!! I had the pleasure of working with him in Honduras last summer, and it is very apparent that his climbing abilities are now matching his energy levels.

Waldo has filmed & produced this video short, check it out and enjoy!