In a message dated 23/08/2006 18:29:52 GMT Standard Time,
tahir@xxxxxxxxxx.net writes:
Is that a yes or a no? :)
As usual it's a non-committal sort of answer. They never seem dense enough
to provide a decent sort of windbreak, but perhaps with some coppice
management
and ground cover that prevents soil compaction and retains some sort of
moisture, like a woodland floor in fact, then they could be a componenet of a
windbreak.
Edmund's idea of seeing what works naturally and locally IMO is the best
bet. But you'd better understand when something is growing happily and not
simply hanging on by the skin of its teeth. The coppiced B utilis in my
garden
looks very happy despite competition from Mulberry and Bay nearby, but I
never
weed or clear leaves away and the thing is more or lessleft to it's own
devices. I do keep hacking a rampant Wisteria from around it....
I do wonder if some of the Birch drought victims also suffered from Rust
fungus in the midst of July's heatwave, the killing off of trees is
frequently
not just a single cause in my experience. We may yet find that the Current
HC
blight has a component from the rampant Pulvinaria regalis of the last half
dozen years?
Birch are cheap enough to risk a few, in fact you probably don't even need
to plant them.
Bill.
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