The veteran tree assemblage is "on its last legs". To our knowledge, no recent management survey of the assemblage has been undertaken and scarcely any remedial management has taken place.
A large proportion of the veterans are badly crowded by closely planted conifers and Sweet Chestnut coppice. Very little 'haloing' (relief from this crowding) has been done. Even when adjacent clearance has recently taken place (for instance, in compliance with the Statutory Plant Health Notice on the Warren) the clearance has - paradoxically - been too drastic, and threatens to damage or kill the veterans by too traumatic exposure to micro-climate change. No major crown reduction has taken place on the larger veterans and long-out-of-cycle pollards and multi-stemmed veterans. This has encouraged a wave of recent collapses, particularly veteran Beech. |