This Saturday was slightly different. Instead of our normal tidyup session within the woodland we decided to run a tree identification and measuring session.

Why?

We have a lot of very mature trees which are beloved by the community – our Memory Trees. We know they’re there, so does the community but they aren’t recorded anywhere. So, if anything happened to any of the trees then there wouldn’t be any record of its existence. We might remember there was a tree there – but in time would we remember what species it was, how tall it was and how large its trunk was? Possibly not.

So we had 9 volunteers on Saturday, and we all made our way up to the area that contains the Memory Trees.

What Did We Record?

Noble Fir Cone

The first thing we did was check to see if there was an identification tag on the tree. If there was, we recorded that number. If there wasn’t we attached one of our own identification tags at 2m up the tree. We photographed the tree, its bark, its leaves and if it had any fruits or cones that we could find, those were photographed as well. Next we measured the circumference of the trunk at 1.3m from the base which wasn’t particularly easy when some of the trunks were over 6m. Then we calculated the Diameter of the tree. Next we measured the radius of the crown of the tree. We checked its general health and whether it had Nests, Nest or Bat Boxes. While we did capture the GPS location of each tree, we also recorded which compartment it was in to make it slightly easier to identify the area of the woods it was located. Next came the height.

How Did We Measure Height?

Grand Fir

Some of these trees are huge! It’s not until you see a photo with tiny little orange dots next to a tree that you realise they are people wearing high-viz vests. We had a couple of different methods of measuring the height, and we compared the results of both methods.

The Stick Method

We found a stick (with all the thinning that has been done in the woods that was quite easy) that had to be the same length as our outstretched arm from the shoulder to wrist. Then the fun bit! We had to hold the stick at the bottom, and outstretch our arm. We had to find a spot where, with the arm outstretched the bottom was level with the base of the tree, and the top of the stick was level with the top of the tree. Then, out came the measuring wheel, and we measured from the spot we were standing at, to the base of the tree. That was the height of the tree!

The Measuring Device

We researched and purchased a device, using funds donated at our various events, for measuring the height of the tree. After attaching the identification tag we temporarily attached a bright coloured bit of thick tape. From a distance, we used the measuring device to take a measurement of the tag, the base and then the top of the tree. The device automatically gave us the height of the tree. We also experimented with this as if manually entered in the distance from the tree it appeared to give us a more accurate measurement.

Over the coming weeks and months we are hoping that we will get the measurements of some of the other trees.

The Vital Stats:

The largest tree we measured was a Grand Fir which was:

Height – 61m

Circumference – 6.53m

And Finally …

At the end of the session we gathered on the grassed area on Birch Drive where we had tea, coffee, bacon and sausages on a roll, home baking and cheese and crackers. We’d like to thank the members who supplied and cooked these refreshments.

Refreshments

More Help Needed

More help is always needed to maintain and improve the woodland for everyone’s benefit in the community. If you cannot spare a couple of hours to join us for some fun in the woodland, why not help out in other ways. You can now make a donation using our PayPal online system. All donations will go to help with the future development of our community woodland.