Tuesday, 16 November 2021

Can't See the Wood for the (Books About) Trees!

  The book I bought a few months ago after reading about Helen Hoover on Miki's Farms on My Bookshelf blog seems to have started a trend.

 

 Two of the books that arrived by the library van recently were these, The Long Shadowed Forest by Helen Hoover. This is her first book, written before A Place in the Woods. This book is a close look at all the flora and fauna around their home in the North Minnesota forest in the 1950's. The number of different birds that visit their cabin for the food they put out is amazing.

 The Long-shadowed Forest ... Illustrated by Adrian Hoover

and The Wood by John Lewis Stempel  

            

For four years John Lewis-Stempel managed Cockshutt wood,three and half acres of mixed woodland in south west Herefordshire - John coppiced the trees and raised cows and pigs who roamed free there. This is the day by day diary of the last year, by which time he had come to know it well - the trees and plants and all the animals that lived there. This was a really good read.
 
Then there are the two  bought secondhand in October, which I'm so looking forward to reading.

 

 Plus  I've actually got several books about trees already sitting on my bookshelves.

 
Although I'm living in a home with fewer trees than I've had for many years, but at least it's never going to cost me hundreds of pounds to have trees cut down for safety anymore!

The sycamore in next-door neighbours garden and the cherry and willow are in the garden of the neighbour behind my garden - I can enjoy seeing them without the responsibility - and the leaves will make a mulch.

This below is a colourful part of my back garden at the moment, although I'm not 100% sure what it is. I first thought it was a Hornbeam because of the bark colour and markings but then I thought the leaves are a bit like a Beech which would be an odd sort of tree to put in a small garden and it doesn't look quite right for Beech. The two trees here which I thought were Silver Birch are probably Himalayan Birch - a more ornamental species, so it's possible that the this one below is a more ornamental and smaller species of Beech.


I might be able to tell more definitely in the spring or someone reading this will soon let me know what it is!
 
Back Tomorrow
Sue
 

 

9 comments:

  1. How lovely to have so many trees round you. And such beautiful autumn foliage.

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  2. Would it be a copper beech, do you think. There's a couple in Mum and Dad's front garden - they hold their copper coloured leaves all through the winter and shed them pretty much when the new leaves start to grow.
    xx

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  3. It's lovely having a librarian onboard reviewing books Sue, just ordered, on Audible, The Wood by Stempel. 6+ hours long, which is better than some of the 20 hours read book length.

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  4. We have lots of trees around us - only one slightly threatening one which is a very tall fir - and threatening only if it decides to become upended in a storm and fall towards us. It has a big girth though, so hopefully that won't happen. Beech trees in the garden, and quite a few sycamores hereabouts - a big one in the top paddock. The beeches are stunning right now. Of course, we have a wonderful number of birds coming to the feeders here because there is such a good habitat for them.

    The tree/woodland books all look interesting. Must look out for the Lewis Stempel one. Reading his "Woodston" at the moment.

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  5. These look lovely, although the sort I would dip into rather than read cover to cover. I have a friend who is a huge fan of Louise Rich's books. I believe they are set in Maine, which is just an hour or two away from me. I have been meaning to read some but I am not as interested in nonfiction.

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  6. Your interest in trees is an interest of mine as well. I have a mature copper beech tree and the leaves are round and deep burgundy in color. Your photo shows similar round leaves and as you state might well be an ornamental beech. The leaves are falling quickly and it is a busy time collecting and composting leaves. My John Deere tractor pulling a lawn sweeper makes leaf clean-up manageable. It's a beautiful Autumn day.

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  7. We have a few trees surrounding us, but most are what are considered weed trees here on the prairies. They are Manitoba Maples and not at all like the maples of Ontario and Quebec.

    God bless.

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  8. How funny - I'm currently reading "The Fruitful City" by Helena Moncrieff - she recently did a talk at my church. Her book is about the history of fruit trees here in Toronto and other cities and now, how people are harvesting the fruit rather than letting it go to waste. Some goes to the harvesters, some to the owners and the majority to food banks etc.

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  9. Other people's trees are so much cheaper to maintain aren't they, it's good that you'll have the leaves to make mulch.

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