The soil is heavy clay, so all the oaks send out massive roots at the base to get a secure grip, but if it gets too squidy, they have been weakened and we have a strong gale, they can topple. They are all 'blowers' or should that be 'squidgers', or squidgy blowers. (Sure there was a lad at school in the lower 4th called Squidgy Blowers). There's one has a giant 'reptilian foot' as a base, so we call it Godzilla. Godzilla currently has oak brackets on his toenails.
The timber looks good on virtually all the fallen trees, most still have degrees of sapwood and the heartwood looks clean.
Root or wingspan of the cruise missile is about 10 feet, thats a lot of root- must weigh a ton+. Yes, we could pull it out, but if giving it the chop its such a wonderful shape I'd sooner do something with it myself. Turn it upsidedown and put some boards over it in a circle or octagon and you've got a spectacular outdoor table. (for instance).
We also have a couple of impressive 'leaners'. One is resting on an Ash, the other toppled last winter against its neighbouring Oak, and then sprouted a wonderful Chicken of the Woods from the snapped base. It could be argued they are great habitat, but this is offset by safety concerns, the wife always walks round them and I wonder if I should winch them off and include them in the 'tidying / harvesting' project ? Big downed trees do add character to the woodland floor, so not sure I want to hoover up every scrap, theres a balance between revenue versus habitat and aesthetic character. Quite like the 'lost world' feel having big chunks lying around gives, the oak plantation 'next door' (an overmanaged wood) is quite Spartan and feels like a factory with no ground cover or even understorey.
