Oak

An ancient oak stands in all its majesty at the end of our garden forming a boundary between my world and another wilder one in the field and woods beyond. It is almost certainly a magical tree for either it or the fairies have enchanted me. When we moved into this house I considered the oak to be a bit of a nuisance. It dominated the view, cast a great deal of shade, nothing grew under it save weeds and it shed millions of leaves which had to be raked up. But a few years on and the tree cast its spells making me appreciate and love it. Nothing much grew under the tree except stubborn perennial weeds and a forest of annual ones. The area under the ...  Read the complete review

I do have other interests besides gardening and alcohol. For example . . . well . . . er . . Okay, let’s just concentrate on these two for the moment. And be thankful that they are so integrated. But of course this is a gardening op, so let me turn your attention to those majestic trees which from little acorns grow. And indeed they are majestic, which is why oak is generally an unsuitable tree for a smaller garden. Two which remain in manageable proportions are Quercus pontica (Armenian Oak), an oval-headed tree with very long leaves, and Quercus ilicifolia, which has smaller leaves, dark green above and greyish below. The latter gives ...  Read the complete review

Oak before ash we are in for a splash, Well as yet I have not seen either in leaf the buds are ready to burst but I have not seen either tree in leaf yet. Oak trees are one of Britains great old trees. The village green where I lived as a child has several really old ones and has a few new saplings too. I have great memories of the old oak from my childhood. I could climb among its lower branches. I often went there when needing to think and be alone. . I made a den under the oak it was my place to be. There are about 400species of oak/Quercus over the whole world. A including our native pedunculate oak and sessile oak, a red ...  Read the complete review

"As above, so below! From tiny courageous seed, mighty strength will grow. Heart of lightning, timeless doors opening within my ancient bole... I will strengthen and feed you; body, mind, and soul. Dig deep! Hold true! I will awaken the primal King and enduring Bard in you." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Our ordinary mind always tries to persuade us that we are nothing but acorns and that our greatest happiness will be to become bigger, fatter, shinier acorns; but that is of interest only to ...  Read the complete review

I did not even realise this section was here until stumbling across someone elses opinion (sorry Zebra). This is great as it allows me to share my vast plant knowledge with you all. I studied for an HND in Amenity horticulture between 1992 and 1995 at Writtle College in Chelmsford and the majority of the course comprised of plant idents and studies. I can therefore share many of the things about plants that may interest you. Firstly, I will discuss the oak. The Oak tree comes in many varieties and types throughout the world and is not confined to the tree we all know in this country, the Common English Oak. The Latin for Oak is Quercus. It ...  Read the complete review