After Storm Arwen, Cragside closed entirely for two weeks to allow the forestry team to carry out tree safety inspections, assess the damage across Cragside’s huge woodland and start clearance works.
Using drones to understand the impact of more frequent storms
The Debdon Valley was another area heavily impacted by the winds with many of Cragside’s oldest and biggest trees blown over in the wind. Due to the shape of the valley, the wind whirled around, creating a cyclone effect. This meant that the wind-blown trees were lying on top of each other, rather than in one direction. The team used drones to assess the damage. This helped them to decide what equipment they needed and assess how dangerous the Valley was.
The clearance work in the Valley is now complete and from the ground there is a noticeable difference in the amount of light as there are now large gaps in the tree canopy. Thanks to the funding from Barbour, the forestry team will work with a contractor to carry out another drone fly-over to evaluate the changes in the landscape. The footage will show the team the dramatic changes to the treescape from the air and help to determine a re-planting programme. It will also create a better understanding of the damage that might be caused by the ever-increasing severe winter storms.
Monitoring the health of the trees
While planting trees is a great way to support the environment and mitigate climate change, it’s also important to protect the trees that we already have.
Cragside’s foresters use their knowledge to look out for the signs that trees may be unhealthy; bulges appearing in the trunk, unusual fungus growing on the bark and branches and deterioration in the tree canopy, such as needle discolouration or an unseasonable loss or lack of leaves, can all be signs of disease. Although this is often this is a sign that the tree needs to be felled, as some of the tallest trees in the collection are some of the tallest of their kind in the country, it’s important that the foresters confirm their observations. Using the funding from Barbour, the Cragside foresters will be able to purchase a new resistograph.
A resistograph drills a narrow hole into the tree and measures the resistance of the wood against the force of the drill. Healthy wood will report a higher resistance, while diseased wood will report a softer, spongy result, prompting the foresters to do more testing and research into the health of the tree.