Grass Clippings

This month will see the Grounds Team extending part of the original woodland on the golf course, from the 6th green through to the 15th tees. This development was part inspired by the call from the Prince of Wales to create the ‘Queen’s Green Canopy’ to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, which invites people from across the United Kingdom to ‘Plant a Tree for the Jubilee’. As a Club we already adopted the idea to look at sustaining species which could cope with a changing climate and avoid species which have known issues with pest and disease which will become more susceptible as the decades roll on. The extended woodland will add shape and colour to the 6th, 7th, and 15th holes and help to regenerate the current woodland which as some gaps and dead trees within the plantation. Other tree related stories also in the weeks Grass Clippings …

There are and many diseases and pests that threaten our nation’s trees and woodlands. Much of the risk is created through climate change and global trade, with increasing freedom to travel and limited resources for checks at international borders. Spruce, which accounts for around 60% of our conifer woodland area and is by far the UK’s most commercial species, is at risk from Ips typographus, more commonly referred to as the eight-toothed spruce bark beetle. If left uncontrolled this beetle has the potential to be more devastating than those which have come before to UK shores, which includes Dutch Elm Beetle.

A report, published during ‘National Tree Week’ is the first time the health and wellbeing benefits of the UK’s woodlands have been quantified. For England specifically, woodlands save £141 million costs associated with mental health illnesses, including visits to GPs, drug prescriptions, inpatient care, social services and the number of days lost due to mental health issues. The figures are based on evidence of the reduced incidence of depression and anxiety resulting from regular visits to woodlands. During the coronavirus pandemic, the prevalence of mental illness has increased. Access to trees, woods, forests, and other natural environments including urban parks and green spaces has become even more important for individuals to support and maintain their wellbeing. Of visits to all greenspace over the past 10 years, from farmland and countryside to parks and playing fields), 14.1% of these were made to woodlands. In urban areas, trees and woodlands are essential for communities, supporting wellbeing, reducing pollution and improving quality of life. Supporting this, the report finds that the value of street trees through avoided antidepressant costs related to mental health issues is £16 million. The report also finds that longer term, the value over the next 100 years is estimated to be just over £11 billion for the mental health benefits of visits to woodlands, and a further £1 billion for the mental health benefits of street trees. Almost half the population say that they are spending more time outside than before the pandemic, while the majority of adults surveyed by Forest Research agreed that their level of happiness when in woodlands and nature has increased.