Wild Service Trees

[TerryH]

Hi,
Meadowcopse recently posted an extract http://www.swog.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1727#p10351 about Wild Service Tree distributions in the UK. We are right in the "Western Weald" clay area that is mentioned ( indeed, if you dig down just about half a meter in our wood you do hit some pure light grey clay) and the article describes Wild Service Trees as "well established at low concentrations" in this area.

We have three of them and, naturally, I want to look after them and wondered if anyone had any thoughts on this?

One of the trees is mature and large but, sadly, only has one bough left on it, nearly vertical and reaching 20 to 25 meters to the very top of the canopy. Here is a stitched together , pseudo wide-angle, photo of the whole tree.....

Presumably the reason this bough has survived where all others failed is because it is near vertical and supports it's own weight. It has survived the recent high winds but I fear that one day I'll go there and find this last bough snapped off due to the 'windsail' factor. Presumably that would be the end of the tree if that did happen...?

The trunk is in great condition. I don't see any holes, splits, decay or that kind of thing



Then there are two younger trees, both about 4" diameter and about 4 metres high. They are 20 metres and 30 metres to the north of the mature tree and they are both growing within a thin hedgerow.
I guess that these two trees came from seed/fruit dispersed from the larger tree; the article talks about new trees commonly forming from suckers but surely not the case here where they are 30 meters away ...

Bizarrely, each of them is growing just several inches away from a mature oak tree. Here's a picture of one of them with its oak tree just behind it.


The article mentions that Wild Service trees do not compete well with oak, and other, trees and that when overshadowed by faster growing trees they will not produce flower/fruit. Is there a case here for having the two oaks felled for their benefit I wonder ?

However that article does also also say that flower and fruit production is dependent on warm summers and that even in drier and warmer parts of Britain it may only fruit every other year, or less. We did not see any flower/fruit on our trees in 2013 but maybe we should wait and see....?

Finally, I've been thinking about physical protection for the young trees. They are in a thin hedgerow and so a little exposed to possibility of damage from deer that are often roaming the wood. The deer have left them alone so far but maybe we've just been lucky. We did have some horses get into the wood and they had a nibble on one of the young trees. So I was thinking to perhaps put a line of brash or some fence around, or alongside, this part of the hedgerow to make sure no large animals could get to them.

The other option is that these three trees have survived this far without any interference from me so perhaps I should just leave them alone / leave it to nature ...

Thanks

[oldclaypaws]

I'm pretty unfamiliar when it comes to Wild Service and indeed have never seen one, however I'd say your old tree looks like a veteran that is on its way out and into its final years, judging by all the decayed upper boughs. Not sure there's anything you could do to revive it (maybe pollarding?), but you could try to use it if it fruits as a seed bank to grow some youngsters for planting. Even when it finally dies, its a wonderful shape which should stand for many years and provide great habitat as its nearby offspring continue the family line.

I'd sacrifice the oaks next to the young Service trees and give them priority, to maximise their chances of surviving. They'll do better without competition. 12ft sounds like they are out of danger of deer, although I'd worry that squirrels might have a go at them- they like smooth barked young trees.

[Treeation]

If the veteran has lots of canopy competition close to it you may want to consider halo thinning around it. Maybe best done over a few years as you do not want to stress the tree and its unique organisms by sudden exposure to light and desication. Also you might consider adding a good layer of well rotted mulch around base to encourage new root growth and vigour. alsol be very sensitive to soil compaction on root system. Dont fell any trees onto root plate- that will cause extensive root damage, don't drive over root plate with vehicles. Even fence around with a dead hedge if you need to keep human traffic off roots.

Not sure how well a tree that old would cope with a pollard. Ive seen that young wildservice respond to coppicing but this tree is too late in its life IMO to be subjected to any heavy stress. A very light 10% reduction repeated every 3 years might encourage some lower growth to sprout and improve stability. Probably best to undertake reduction work with gentle halo thinning for best results.

Hope thats helpful

Patrick
www.treeation.co.uk

[TerryH]

Thankyou Paws and Treation... really useful advice there.
The veteran doesn't really have much canopy competition; it's a relatively open space there and consequently the ground below it has quite a bit of grass and brambles growing. So the mulching idea might be worth a try... presumably I could use leaf litter collected from around the wood (or is that bad practice?) , shred it up, and lay a couple of inches deep around the tree. I don't think I'm inclined towards any surgery on the old-timer... will just enjoy it while it lasts and, yes, will definitely keep my eyes open for any fruit/seed.

I went there today and noticed that the two young trees actually have three large oaks (not two) growing next to them so, maybe not this year, but at some point I think I'll start to get those gradually removed.

Thanks !

( Really glad I signed up to SWOG forums .. lots of friendly and helpful advice to be found here )

[oldclaypaws]

If you put leaf litter on the base from other parts of the wood there's a danger it may contain either new fungal spores or insects which could stress it. Maybe just accept you can't turn the clock back, see it as approaching the end of its life cycle, look out for fruit (you'd expect it to put some of its last reserves into fruiting) and enjoy it while it lasts. Its sad to see something approach its final stages, but at least you have the youngsters and the deadwood will be an interesting feature for a great many years. Dead wood is all recycled and feeds other trees and hosts hundreds of beneficial insects, birds and small mammals in its various holes and tissues. I think I prefer some of my dead trees to some of the living ones !

[Steve Medlock]

I have one old Wild Service growing on Sandstone in East Sussex. It hasn't fruited for many years as far as I know, so I was planning this year to give it more space and light by taking out some of the sweet chestnut around it.

Steve.

[Dexter's Shed]

come on then, this is killing me, spill the beans
what is a service tree, and how do you go about knowing it from any other

[Wendelspanswick]

come on then, this is killing me, spill the beans
what is a service tree, and how do you go about knowing it from any other

What makes a Service tree wild?

"Wild! I was bloody furious."
Gerald the gorilla courtesy of Not The Nine O Clock News.

[oldclaypaws]

Well, its a tree. They are real, not made up, and there may even be things in them to shoot Dexyrat, so look out for them- you might even have some as your wood is ancient. They are one of our rarest native trees, attractive, and yield a berry like fruit which needs to be bletted, then they taste like sultanas, apparently. You are not alone, very few people have heard of them.

They were a bit of a delicacy in ye olden days, and known as checker trees. (Hence the name of the P.M's country residence.)

Wiki entry-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorbus_torminalis

[Dexter's Shed]

thanks Paws, I'll keep my eye's peeled