It is useful to be able to identify grasses - for botanical surveys, for monitoring grassland, for understanding agriculture and ecosystems, and for enjoying their beauty. Grass identification can be challenging: coming on a beginners day course is an excellent way to start.

This lively, one day course with Dr Judith Allinson is suitable for anyone who would like to start learning how to identify grasses, whether a student, an amateur naturalist, a farmer, a scientist, a botanical or agricultural surveyor, a gardener. Participants will see lots of examples of the grasses growing in slightly different habitats.

Location: Yorkshire Arboretum Tree Health Centre
Tutors: Dr Judith Allinson     Fee: £130
Level: No prior knowledge required
Includes buffet lunch

Please book your place below:

About the Course

Aim

For participants to recognise common species of neutral grassland and a few in woodland, concentrating on those that come into flower early. Participants will learn the vocabulary to describe both vegetative and flowering features of grasses, and thus be able to start using grass keys.

Objectives

• To learn to recognise c. 10 common species of grasses that you can probably find at home too.

• To see a variety of other grasses and have distinctive features pointed out.

• To be introduced to and learn and use the vocabulary needed to describe vegetative features, and grass flowers.

• To be introduced to some of the books helpful for identifying grasses.

The above will be achieved by means of teaching in the classroom, followed by a walk to look for grasses in the grounds of the Yorkshire Arboretum. If there is time we will use a grass key. We will concentrate on grasses in neutral grassland.

Outcomes

By the end of the course, participants will:

• Have a small collection of grasses to take home, including vegetative and flowering specimens. These can be in the form of pressed plants, or grasses stuck onto a sheet with sticky back plastic (or both).

• Have gained confidence in recognising these plants.

• Have been introduced to and learnt the vocabulary needed to describe special features of grasses.

• Have been introduced to some of the books  helpful for identifying grasses.

 Useful Accessories / Notes

• Hand lenses will be available for participants to borrow who do not have a hand lens of their own. If they have them, participants are invited to bring hand lenses and fine tweezers.

• Waterproof clothing and strong footwear are recommended. It is not anticipated that we will be walking very far.

• Notebook, pen, plastic bags can be useful.

Note this is an introductory course. It is hoped to run further courses involving more practice in use of keys, finding more species, and looking at vegetative features.

About the Tutor

Judith (or Dr Judith Allinson) started work as a field biology/botany tutor at Malham Tarn Field Centre. Since then she has worked carrying out botanical surveys for Natural England (and its predecessors) and other organisations, and spent some time school teaching. She has run “Grasses” and “Grasses and Sedges” courses at many Field Studies Council Centres and elsewhere, specialising in identifying grasses using vegetative features.  She co-authored the AIDGAP guide: “British grasses: a punched card key to grasses in the vegetative state.” by Pankhurst and Allinson. She is a past president of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union.

Contact

For further information about the course please contact the team by email administration@treehealthcentre.org or phone 01653 648598

Lichens are a much unrecorded section of our wildlife. Yet they cover 6-8 percent of the world’s land surface. Recently more people have become aware of the symbiotic relationship of the fungus and alga (or blue-green bacterium) which make up the lichen. 

This one day course with Dr Judith Allinson will take you on a journey of discovery into the world of lichen identification. You will learn how to recognise several common species and gain the vocabulary to describe a new lichen you find to a lichenologist. Suitable for beginners, students, amateur naturalists, and botanical surveyors.

Location: Yorkshire Arboretum Tree Health Centre
Tutors: Dr Judith Allinson     Fee: £130
Level: No prior knowledge required
Includes buffet lunch

Please book your place below:

About the Course

Why

Lichens are a much unrecorded section of our wildlife. Yet they cover 6-8 percent of the world’s land surface. Recently more people have become aware of the symbiotic relationship of the fungus and alga (or blue-green bacterium) which make up the lichen. Look at a lichen under a hand lens and see the rich variety of colours and textures and you will soon become hooked! It is easier to come on a course with a tutor and have the species on a branch pointed out to you than to learn them from a book.

Aim

Participants will learn how to recognise several common species of lichen, gain the vocabulary to describe a new lichen you find to a lichenologist, or read about a lichen in a book. And, to learn how some species of lichen can tell us about pollution levels.

Objectives

• To learn about common species of lichens growing on trees in the Yorkshire Arboretum, that you can probably find at home too. 

• To see a variety of other lichens.

• To be introduced to and learn and use the vocabulary needed to describe lichens.

• To be introduced to some of the books and website pages helpful for identifying lichens.

The above will be achieved by means of teaching in the classroom, followed by a walk to look for lichens on trees in the Yorkshire Arboretum.

Outcomes

By the end of the course, participants will:

• Have a small collection of lichens to take home, many of these are likely to be growing on trees near them in other parts of Yorkshire.

• Seen a variety of other lichens and will have been introduced to and learnt some of the vocabulary needed to describe lichens.

• Be able to say whether a lichen is a crustose, fruticose, or foliose lichen.

• Have seen two simple chemical tests often used to distinguish lichens.

• Have been introduced to some of the books and website pages helpful for identifying lichens.

Useful Accessories

• Hand lenses will be available for participants to borrow who do not have a hand lens of their own.

• If they have them, participants are invited to bring hand lenses, fine tweezers, a mobile phone, or camera with close up facilities. But do not buy one specially for the course!

• The most useful book is Frank Dobson’s “Lichens - An Illustrated Guide to the British and Irish Species” (£35 from the British Lichen society - £5 reduction if you are a member) but as participants are beginners it is not expected that many people will have one.

• Waterproof clothing and strong footwear are recommended. It is not anticipated that we will be walking very far.

• Notebook, pen, plastic bags, sheets of A4 paper or envelopes, and a penknife can also be useful.

About the Tutor

Judith (or Dr Judith Allinson) started work as a botany tutor at Malham Tarn Field Centre. Since then she has worked carrying out botanical surveys for Natural England (and its predecessors) and other organisations, school teaching and teaching Grasses and Sedges courses at Field Studies Council Centres. Over the last ten years her interest in lichens has increased. She currently hosts the Zoom Lichen Chat and Improvement Group for the British Lichen Society, and has served on Council of the British Lichens Society. She is a past president of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union and is keen to encourage young people to find out about lichens.

Contact

For further information about the course please contact the team by email administration@treehealthcentre.org or phone 01653 648598

To look after trees well you need to know when there is something wrong with them so you can take appropriate action. However, as there are only so many symptoms a tree can express, it’s not always that easy to figure out what might be wrong.

On this course you will learn how to methodically work through all the possibilities to accurately record a tree’s symptoms and surrounds and categorise what type of problem you are most likely observing. You will also learn when to take samples, where to send them for testing and what to do if you find something problematic.

Course fee £95. Includes a buffet lunch and refreshments

Please book below

This workshop will introduce you to the process of tree identification, based on summer foliage, using a selection of common or native deciduous trees as our starting point. Following a short introduction in the classroom, we will go outside to study them as growing trees in full leaf and fruit, concluding with an identification challenge in an area of native trees.

This workshop is led by Arboretum Director John Grimshaw.

Location: Yorkshire Arboretum Tree Health Centre
Level: No prior knowledge required
Includes buffet lunch

Course fee: £110 - Please book below

Traditional wildflower meadows are among the richest habitats for all kinds of native biodiversity, but continue to disappear from the landscape.

This day course, led by John Grimshaw, will encourage you to try and create your own wildflower meadow. Even converting a few square metres of lawn can make a big difference.

Location: Yorkshire Arboretum Peter Sowerby Building

Fee: £110 with lunch provided

Healthy hedgerows are essential habitats for UK biodiversity, supporting over 2,000 species including the hedgehog and several European Protected Species, notably the dormouse, most species of bat, the great-crested newt and many more. However, most garden hedges a made up of just one species, for ornamental reasons, and biodiversity is overlooked.

To celebrate National Hedgerow Week, we would like to encourage you to challenge that norm and introduce a diverse range of species, habitats and food sources to your garden hedge to increase biodiversity and build climate resilience. Rewild your hedge will teach you all the reasons urban and garden hedges are so important and what makes hedges the UKs largest priority habitat. You will leave the course with a fresh appreciation for the value of your small garden habitat, armed with the information you need to improve its value further.

Course fee £95 includes lunch and refreshments. Please book below

Are you interested in our native trees but feel you don’t know much about them, or how to tell them apart? In this day course John Grimshaw will introduce you to them using the collection at the Yorkshire Arboretum, teaching you about the various features to look for and some simple ways to remember them. The focus will be on species most often seen in northern England, using summer foliage characters to tell them apart.

Location: Yorkshire Arboretum Tree Health Centre
Tutors: Dr John Grimshaw     Fee: £110
Level: No prior knowledge required
Includes buffet lunch

Please book your place below:

Why

Tree identification often seems difficult and challenging, and can be an obstacle to fully appreciating these wonderful plants that are so important to our lives. Being able to identify them opens many doors to understanding the natural world and the wealth of cultural and biological stories each species can tell. Advocacy for trees begins with naming!

Content

• Discuss the principles of identification, and the need for names

• Learn about the diversity of British native and frequently planted or naturalised broad-leaved trees

• Learn some simple characters to look for, and examine a range of specimens in the classroom to become familiar with important features

• Observe growing trees in the arboretum to see how details relate to the whole individual

• Undertake an identification challenge in a patch of native trees

Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

• Confidently recognise a range of our common native trees

• Find your way around a guidebook to trees

• Understand and apply principles of identification to woodland trees

• Share why it’s useful to be able to distinguish between trees

• Interpret your local treescape and connect to individual trees

 Useful accessories: Collins Tree Guide (Owen Johnson, 2006), 10× hand lens

Contact

For further information about the course please contact the team by email administration@treehealthcentre.org or phone 01653 648598

There’s a lot of interest in planting trees at present, for carbon capture and other ecosystem benefits, as well as their own beauty. Planting a tree in your garden or neighbourhood can help a lot, but choosing the right tree, planting and looking after it can be a daunting prospect. This investment can be costly both in time, money, and enthusiasm when it goes wrong.

Location: Yorkshire Arboretum Tree Health Centre
Tutors: Dr John Grimshaw Fee: £60
Level: No prior knowledge required

Please reserve your place here:

About the Course

Aim

To ensure that trees thrive, this half day course ‘Trees for Your Garden: Planting for the Best Start’ led by our Director, John Grimshaw, guides learners through choosing and planting a healthy tree and its important early maintenance. Learners will leave confident in the knowledge of how to establish a tree for future generations and know about pitfalls that should be avoided.

Objectives

• Talk through the importance of sourcing healthy plants.

• Share a succinct list of important criteria to choose a high quality retailer.

• Use live examples and images to highlight what to look for when purchasing healthy trees.

• Explain the best time to plant and show how to handle and care for trees until that time comes.

• Demonstrate preparation and planting whilst discussing different situations and supplements.

• Use a short tour to show different methods of planting support and protection.

• Prioritise the aftercare and maintenance that learners should invest their time in.

Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

• Confidently select good quality healthy trees in a garden centre.

• Understand the need for plant passporting and traceability that this provides.

• Consider and minimise the factors that might limit your tree’s establishment.

• Maximise the likelihood of your tree thriving through appropriate and effective preparation, planting, support and maintenance.

Contact

For further information about the course please contact the Tree Health Centre team by email administration@treehealthcentre.org or phone 01653 648598

Trees are often just a beautiful in winter as in summer, as their structure and shape are revealed. It adds a great deal to your appreciation of the winter landscape to know what trees you’re looking at, and there are practical advantages too – but it can be difficult without the leaves. Luckily there are plenty of clues, you just need to know what to look for.

This day course is led by Arboretum Director John Grimshaw. It will introduce you to tree identification in winter, using on a combination of tree form, bark, and twig and bud characters, focusing on common and native deciduous trees growing in the Yorkshire Arboretum. Following a short introduction in the classroom, we will go outside to study them as growing trees before concluding with a comparative exercise inside.

Course Content

• Discuss the difficulties and opportunities for identifying trees in winter

• Learn some obvious characters to look for, using all parts of the tree

• Examine a range of specimens in the classroom to become familiar with details to look for

• Study trees in the arboretum to see how characters work together to enable identification

• Make a key to separate a selection of twigs on their buds and other features

Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

• Recognise a selection of native trees from their winter characteristics, enabling you to appreciate the landscape more

• Understand what you should look for in an unknown tree to make a winter identification

• Prepare a key to plant features

• Know about useful resources to learn more

Useful accessories: Collins Tree Guide (Owen Johnson, 2006),  The Field Key to Winter Twigs (John Poland, 2020), Identification of Trees and Shrubs in Winter using Buds and Twigs (Bernd Schulz, 2018), 10× hand lens

Booking Information

Location: Yorkshire Arboretum Tree Health Centre
Tutors: Dr John Grimshaw     Fee: £90
Level: No prior knowledge required
Includes buffet lunch

Why

Tree identification often seems difficult and challenging, and can be an obstacle to fully appreciating these wonderful plants that are so important to our lives. Being able to identify them opens many doors to understanding the natural world and the wealth of cultural and biological stories each species can tell. Advocacy for trees begins with naming!

Aim

Are you interested in our native trees but feel you don’t know much about them, or how to tell them apart? In this day course John Grimshaw will introduce you to them using the collection at the Yorkshire Arboretum, teaching you about the various features to look for and some simple ways to remember them. The focus will be on species most often seen in northern England, using summer foliage characters to tell them apart.

Content

Discuss the principles of identification, and the need for names

Learn about the diversity of British native and frequently planted or naturalised broad-leaved trees

Learn some simple characters to look for, and examine a range of specimens in the classroom to become familiar with important features

Observe growing trees in the arboretum to see how details relate to the whole individual

Undertake an identification challenge in a patch of native trees

Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

Confidently recognise a range of our common native trees

Find your way around a guidebook to trees

Understand and apply principles of identification to woodland trees

Share why it’s useful to be able to distinguish between trees

Interpret your local treescape and connect to individual trees

Useful accessories: Collins Tree Guide (Owen Johnson, 2006), 10× hand lens

Audience

Amateur gardeners, early career private gardeners and horticulturists, and conservation volunteers.

Why

There’s a lot of interest in planting trees at present, for carbon capture and other ecosystem benefits, as well as their own beauty. Planting a tree in your garden or neighbourhood can help a lot, but choosing the right tree, planting and looking after it can be a daunting prospect. This investment can be costly both in time, money and enthusiasm when it goes wrong.

Aim

To ensure that trees thrive Garden Trees: Best Start will guide learners through choosing and planting a healthy tree and its important early maintenance. Learners will leave confident in the knowledge of how to establish a tree for future generations and know about pitfalls that should be avoided.

Objectives

• Talk through the importance of sourcing healthy plants.

• Share a succinct list of important criteria to choose a high quality retailer.

• Use live examples and images to highlight what to look for when purchasing healthy trees.

• Explain the best time to plant and show how to handle and care for trees until that time comes.

• Demonstrate preparation and planting whilst discussing different situations and supplements.

• Use a short tour to show different methods of planting support and protection.

• Prioritise the aftercare and maintenance that learners should invest their time in.

Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

• Confidently select good quality healthy trees in a garden centre.

• Understand the need for plant passporting and traceability that this provides.

• Consider and minimise the factors that might limit your tree’s establishment.

• Maximise the likelihood of your tree thriving through appropriate and effective preparation, planting, support and maintenance.

Why

Trees are often just a beautiful in winter as in summer, as their structure and shape are revealed. It adds a great deal to your appreciation of the winter landscape to know what trees you’re looking at, and there are practical advantages too – but it can be difficult without the leaves. Luckily there are plenty of clues, you just need to know what to look for.

Aim

This day course will introduce you to tree identification in winter, using on a combination of tree form, bark, and twig and bud characters, focusing on common and native deciduous trees growing in the Yorkshire Arboretum. Following a short introduction in the classroom, we will go outside to study them as growing trees before concluding with a comparative exercise inside.

This class is a stand-alone but is one of a three part Introduction to Tree Identification alongside Broad-leaves (30 September) and Conifers (28 October).

Objectives

• Discuss the difficulties and opportunities for identifying trees in winter

• Learn some obvious characters to look for, using all parts of the tree

• Examine a range of specimens in the classroom to become familiar with details to look for

• Study trees in the arboretum to see how characters work together to enable identification

• Make a key to separate a selection of twigs on their buds and other features

Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

• Recognise a selection of native trees from their winter characteristics, enabling you to appreciate the landscape more

• Understand what you should look for in an unknown tree to make a winter identification

• Prepare a key to plant features

• Know about useful resources to learn more

Useful accessories: Collins Tree Guide (Owen Johnson, 2006),  The Field Key to Winter Twigs (John Poland, 2020), Identification of Trees and Shrubs in Winter using Buds and Twigs (Bernd Schulz, 2018), 10× hand lens

Why

People often find themselves confronted with a ‘jungle’ of overgrown, unruly shrubs and trees, and wonder what to do about it. Even if they aren’t at that stage, knowing what to prune, when, and how to do it in order to maximise the health and vigour of your plant will reduce the worries about doing this.

Aim

This workshop will provide an introduction to pruning, from when you can safely hack to where more cautious work is needed, giving you the confidence to start managing your woody plants for best results. This will be a hands-on practical demonstration and exercise working with trees and shrubs in the Yorkshire Arboretum.

Aim

Introduction to Tree Health Problems is a half day course for people who want to know more about pests and diseases in trees. Teaching in the classroom and a short tour will be used to familiarise learners with some high profile tree pests and basic categories of problems that affect tree health.

Content

• To explain why pruning is needed using example scenarios

• Guide through the principles of pruning with live examples in the arboretum

• Show how good, bad and a lack of pruning affect plant health and longevity

• Talk through the most suitable tools for the task, and use them to prune some practice specimens

Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

• Confidently apply your pruning skills in your own garden

• Decide which of your woody plants need pruning and when you should do it

• Place your cuts for the best aesthetic and healthiest outcome

• Know of some key resources to turn to for help with your pruning decisions

Please dress warmly and bring robust gloves; tools will be provided but feel free to bring personal implements that you’re comfortable working with. Age 16+ only please.

Audience

Amateur gardeners, early career private gardeners and horticulturists, and conservation volunteers.

Why

There’s a lot of interest in planting trees at present, for carbon capture and other ecosystem benefits, as well as their own beauty. Planting a tree in your garden or neighbourhood can help a lot, but choosing the right tree, planting and looking after it can be a daunting prospect. This investment can be costly both in time, money and enthusiasm when it goes wrong.

Aim

To ensure that trees thrive Garden Trees: Best Start will guide learners through choosing and planting a healthy tree and its important early maintenance. Learners will leave confident in the knowledge of how to establish a tree for future generations and know about pitfalls that should be avoided.

Objectives

• Talk through the importance of sourcing healthy plants.

• Share a succinct list of important criteria to choose a high quality retailer.

• Use live examples and images to highlight what to look for when purchasing healthy trees.

• Explain the best time to plant and show how to handle and care for trees until that time comes.

• Demonstrate preparation and planting whilst discussing different situations and supplements.

• Use a short tour to show different methods of planting support and protection.

• Prioritise the aftercare and maintenance that learners should invest their time in.

Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

• Confidently select good quality healthy trees in a garden centre.

• Understand the need for plant passporting and traceability that this provides.

• Consider and minimise the factors that might limit your tree’s establishment.

• Maximise the likelihood of your tree thriving through appropriate and effective preparation, planting, support and maintenance.

Audience

Amateur gardeners, early career private gardeners and horticulturists, and conservation volunteers.

Why

There’s a lot of interest in planting trees at present, for carbon capture and other ecosystem benefits, as well as their own beauty. Planting a tree in your garden or neighbourhood can help a lot, but choosing the right tree, planting and looking after it can be a daunting prospect. This investment can be costly both in time, money and enthusiasm when it goes wrong.

Aim

To ensure that trees thrive Garden Trees: Best Start will guide learners through choosing and planting a healthy tree and its important early maintenance. Learners will leave confident in the knowledge of how to establish a tree for future generations and know about pitfalls that should be avoided.

Objectives

• Talk through the importance of sourcing healthy plants.

• Share a succinct list of important criteria to choose a high quality retailer.

• Use live examples and images to highlight what to look for when purchasing healthy trees.

• Explain the best time to plant and show how to handle and care for trees until that time comes.

• Demonstrate preparation and planting whilst discussing different situations and supplements.

• Use a short tour to show different methods of planting support and protection.

• Prioritise the aftercare and maintenance that learners should invest their time in.

Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

• Confidently select good quality healthy trees in a garden centre.

• Understand the need for plant passporting and traceability that this provides.

• Consider and minimise the factors that might limit your tree’s establishment.

• Maximise the likelihood of your tree thriving through appropriate and effective preparation, planting, support and maintenance.

Why

Conifers are often seen as somewhat alien and even perhaps threatening, but this is often because we don’t know what we’re looking at. As beautiful trees with great ecological and commercial importance they deserve to be understood and appreciated more, and this starts with getting to know them.

Aim

This workshop will introduce you to the main groups of conifers found in British gardens and landscapes, and enable you to be able to identify the major groups using a few easily observed characters. Following a short introduction in the classroom, we will go outside to study them as growing trees in the arboretum, concluding with a summary session indoors.

This class is a stand-alone but also forms part of a three part Introduction to Tree Identification alongside Broad-leaves (30 September) and Trees in Winter (25 November).

Content

• Discuss the challenges of conifer identification

• Learn about the diversity of coniferous trees around the world, and their importance in the British landscape and economy

• Learn some easy characters to look for to distinguish the major groups

• Examine a range of specimens in the classroom to become familiar with points to look for

• Observe growing trees in the arboretum to see the diversity of tree form in conifers and learn to correlate this with finer details

• Finish with a cone quiz

Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

• Confidently recognise a range of widely grown, common conifers

• Know more about the diversity of cultivated conifers and their backgrounds

• Understand more about the cultural and economic importance of conifers and be able to tell other people about them

Useful accessories: Collins Tree Guide (Owen Johnson, 2006), 10× hand lens

Audience

Amateur gardeners, nature conservation volunteers, entry-level professionals working in landscape or countryside management, forestry, gardening, public sector tree-work and nurseries.

Why

Tree pests and diseases have never been so great a problem as they are now, but the issues are often poorly understood. With a broad range of problems affecting trees it can be difficult to know where to begin as an amateur or entry-level professional. Summarising these tree health problems into basic categories and seeing some of them in person will get you off to the right start.

Aim

Introduction to Tree Health Problems is a half day course for people who want to know more about pests and diseases in trees. Teaching in the classroom and a short tour will be used to familiarise learners with some high profile tree pests and basic categories of problems that affect tree health.

Objectives

• Portray the environmental, economic and social impact of tree pests at a national level using introductory examples of priority tree pests.

• Provide a brief overview of the UK Plant Health Service.

• Combine introductory lecture and a short tree health tour of the arboretum to raise awareness of frequently found and priority pests and disease.

• Talk learners through the minimum information to collect to report tree disease.

• Highlight the importance of reporting concerns accurately, and where to report them.

• Introduce simple biosecurity measures that may limit the spread of tree diseases.

Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

• Justify why it is important to limit the spread of tree pests.

• Outline who is responsible for the management of tree pests in the UK.

• Begin to categorise and recognise basic types of tree problems.

• Give named examples of public priority tree pests and describe the common symptoms that are useful to identify them.

Objectives

Fungal decay in trees can lead to potentially dangerous weaknesses. Understanding the processes of decay and the safety thresholds involved to keep people and property safe is a technical skill demanding lots of experience. Without this knowledge and practice trees tend to be removed over zealously in the name of safety precaution, whereas we should be asking where is it safe to retain a tree and ensure the provision of ecosystem benefits for decades or even centuries to come.

This half day introduction will be supported by the technical expertise and knowledge of Barnes Associates ltd Tree Diagnostics™ Team, and our resident fungi expert Malcolm Greaves. Join us to learn about

• Fungal relationships with trees both positive and negative.

• The work of a tree surveyor.

• How some fungi affect tree’s structure and stability and we can assess this using sonic tomography and tree stability inclinometers.

• Tree risk and your duties as a tree owner

This introduction will not prepare or qualify you to assess tree safety, tree assessments should only be carried out by qualified and experienced tree surveyors.

Audience

Amateur gardeners, nature conservation volunteers, entry-level professionals working in landscape or countryside management, forestry, gardening, public sector tree-work and nurseries.

Why

Tree pests and diseases have never been so great a problem as they are now, but the issues are often poorly understood. With a broad range of problems affecting trees it can be difficult to know where to begin as an amateur or entry-level professional. Summarising these tree health problems into basic categories and seeing some of them in person will get you off to the right start.

Aim

Introduction to Tree Health Problems is a half day course for people who want to know more about pests and diseases in trees. Teaching in the classroom and a short tour will be used to familiarise learners with some high profile tree pests and basic categories of problems that affect tree health.

Objectives

• Portray the environmental, economic and social impact of tree pests at a national level using introductory examples of priority tree pests.

• Provide a brief overview of the UK Plant Health Service.

• Combine introductory lecture and a short tree health tour of the arboretum to raise awareness of frequently found and priority pests and disease.

• Talk learners through the minimum information to collect to report tree disease.

• Highlight the importance of reporting concerns accurately, and where to report them.

• Introduce simple biosecurity measures that may limit the spread of tree diseases.

Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

• Justify why it is important to limit the spread of tree pests.

• Outline who is responsible for the management of tree pests in the UK.

• Begin to categorise and recognise basic types of tree problems.

• Give named examples of public priority tree pests and describe the common symptoms that are useful to identify them.

Why

Tree identification often seems difficult and challenging, and can be an obstacle to fully appreciating these wonderful plants that are so important to our lives. Being able to identify them opens many doors to understanding the natural world and the wealth of cultural and biological stories each species can tell. Advocacy for trees begins with naming!

Aim

This workshop will introduce you to the process of tree identification, based on summer foliage, using a selection of common or native deciduous trees as our starting point. Following a short introduction in the classroom, we will go outside to study them as growing trees in full leaf and fruit, concluding with an identification challenge in an area of native trees.

This class is a stand-alone but also forms part of a three part Introduction to Tree Identification alongside Conifers (28 October) and Trees in Winter (25 November).

Content

• Discuss the principles of identification, and the need for names

• Learn about the diversity of British native and frequently planted or naturalised broad-leaved trees

• Learn some simple characters to look for, and examine a range of specimens in the classroom to become familiar with important features

• Observe growing trees in the arboretum to see how details relate to the whole individual

• Undertake an identification challenge in a patch of native trees

Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

• Confidently recognise a range of our common native broad-leaved trees

• Find your way around a guidebook to trees

• Understand and apply principles of identification to woodland trees

• Share why it’s useful to be able to distinguish between trees

• Interpret your local treescape and connect to individual trees

Useful accessories: Collins Tree Guide (Owen Johnson, 2006), 10× hand lens