We planted the Red BIrch last summer. It is doing really well, barricaded behind a steel wall to keep out the sheep, the deer and anything else (lawnmower, kids...) The leaves are an amazing dark red colour and when the tree gets a bit bigger the bark will be bright white. Update 7th July: we have rebuilt the protection around the red birch and added a windbreaker to protect the tree from the winds that funnel up the Pojo fjord.
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Several years ago we bought two red oaks (Quercus Rubra) from the botanical gardens in Turku. Turku is located inside Finland's oak zone (and so is Raseborg)! We planted them between the cabin and the curly birch plantation but unfortunately one of the red oaks was destroyed by small furry mammals who like to burrow into the roots of trees and nest there. The other tree is looking quite spectacular: the leaves are a beautiful shape and have a red tint against the blue sky. "Tractor" was his first word... They've been clearing fallen trees in the forest. Quite a few came down during the storms. The tractor is a 1961 Volvo Buster 320. Same tractor, same driver 2005! And here on the Avant loading pine logs onto the trailer. (The Avant is from 2003, Made in Finland, near Tampere).
The forestry commission is nagging people to clear fallen spruce. Apparently they harbour a fungus called Heterobasidion parviporum (white-rot fungus) which is held under control while trees are alive but when a tree falls and dies these pests multiply exponentially and can infect healthy trees which become infected at the base. Or something like that (I need to find out more). The crux of the matter is that they are going to start fining people who don't clear dead spruce. We bought an ash tree (Fin: lehtosaarni) at Tahvoset's open day - just because we don't have an ash tree anywhere. Ash do grow in southern Finland (especially on the Åland islands and throughout the archipelago) but we don't have any at all. Planning to plant it in a sunny spot out of the wind up at Rosendal. It's a bit of a gamble. Wikipedia: Fraxinus excelsior. |