Missing in the virtual world

I’m writing this while in an airport in Sweden, not that I’m bragging – much. I am here because the world of conferences has resumed. For the 20 years or so before Covid, I had been attending and presenting at conferences, it was just something that I did and I never...

Ancient wisdom in modern times

Looking out now the dust seems to be settling. I’m not brave enough to say that we have entered a post-COVID19 era – we are only one cough away from another dust storm. Who knows what that storm will bring and when it will end, but for now we are breathing a...

An unsavoury tort

Tort is the area of law involving obligations by one person or entity to another. The tort of negligence is where one party owes a duty of care to another. A tort arises when the party owing the duty of care breaches that obligation and damage are experienced by a...

The social side of planting

As I write this we are in the midst of our planting season and once again we find ourselves discussing the pros and cons of planting best practice. As always reality and best practice are often not compatible – sad, but true, especially when planting trees in...

The problem with trees

As an arborist, I have never grasped the concept of trees as a problem. A tree is a tree, in the same way that a spade is a spade, a brick is a brick, and the colour red is… red. These things are just things and while there is variation (considerable variation) the...