4 minute read
Trees for Seaford
Fantastic Fungi
Although as I write this, the sun is shining and it is unusually warm for early October, the signs of change are all around. The tree canopies are beginning to thin out. The rich colours of berries and fruits gleam in the hedges and leaf colour is now giving way to reds, yellows and browns. In autumn, deciduous trees shut down photosynthesis and reclaim as many valuable chemicals as possible. Chlorophyll is constantly breaking down and being replaced during the summer, but this process slows down now. All those other chemicals in the leaves that were hidden by the green chlorophyll are now revealed. These include flavonols (yellow), carotenoids (orange) and anthocyanins (red to purple). The exact mixture of these compounds varies between tree species, and thus the degree of yellow or red in the leaves.
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Take a walk in the woods and focus carefully on the ground around fallen and decaying logs and you will find a host of different fungi such as Candle Snuff fungus, White Cheese and Kings Alfred’s Cakes. Those are the visible fungi – but you may be unaware that under the ground trees and plants communicate with each other via the ‘wood wide web’, an amazing mycorrhizal fungal network that allows symbiotic exchange of essential nutrients such as carbon, glucose and minerals between fungi and plants; the network also transmits warnings to distant trees of dangers like insect attack. This underground network is crucial to storing significant amounts of carbon, and therefore has a significant role in mitigating climate change. Research about how tree planting schemes can incorporate this new knowledge is developing, but it certainly seems to be the case that trees prefer to be near other trees – and they don’t even need to be the same species.
National Tree Planting Week
This year National Tree Planting week runs from 26th November to 4th December, and work parties will be out both weekends during that time, so look out for us in our high-vis jackets. Hopefully the weather won’t be too inclement! We plan to push ahead with new trees, including cherries, crabapples and hawthorns in Chyngton Avenue and Mason Road. In the Crouch we will be adding three new cherry trees towards the Queens Green Canopy project with the Rotary, WI and Churches Together, to extend the row of trees originally planted in 2013 by Seaford Rotary. In fact, all the trees we are planting up until the end of March 2023, including Acer campestre, ‘Queen Elizabeth’ will be registered as part of this tribute to the late Queen.
On other dates, in collaboration with the wonderful Friends of Sutton Downs, we are planting fruit trees near the sports fields at the Leisure Centre, as well as helping put in a wildlife hedge. We would be glad to have more ‘diggers’ over those times, so would love to hear from anyone who would like to help via the email address below – high-vis, spades and biscuits supplied! Our tree expert Keith Sacre is running another practical teach-in on the morning of November 6th.
Lottery bid successful and CIC status achieved!
We’re delighted to be a part of the Ouse Valley Climate Action Fund which has been successful in its lottery bid managed by the South Downs National Park (SDNP). TFS put in a joint proposal with On The Verge, our ‘sister’ group, alongside Seaford Community Partnership. The Ouse Valley Climate Action Fund will bring together voluntary groups in Seaford and across the project area. Trees for Seaford and On The Verge are looking forward to collaborating with others to plant trees, renature parts of our green spaces and raise awareness of the biodiversity crisis and what we can all do about it. We are pleased to announce that we have now registered as a community interest company.
Do join us
We are always looking for new volunteers to help with planting, monitoring, outdoor backup or indoor admin! We promise a warm welcome to a friendly and inclusive group. We do like to adjourn for refreshments after some of our active sessions, so it can be a good way to meet people too! And finally, with the strong autumn winds expected, please do get in touch if you notice young street trees which need restaking – or other ‘treemergency needs’
Email treesforseaford@gmail.com. Website treesforseaford.wordpress.com Renaturingseaford.org FB: facebook.com./treesforseaford
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