An investigation into the properties and characteristics of our trees.
Beech
Timber Properties: Beech has excellent strength and stiffness properties even in bending and shear.
Environmental considerations: Supports rarer plant species including fungi’s, mosses and lichens. Supports insects such as butterflies, caterpillars and moths. Produces seeds to support mice, voles, squirrels and birds.
Timber Uses: flooring, interior joinery and furniture.
Cedar
In antiquity, in the Middle East, cedar wood was used to build major buildings, such as temples, due to the tree’s exceptional size and durability. The wood is also a source of an essential oil similar to turpentine and was used to make cough medicines, ointments and antiseptic. Egypt also imported the oil from Lebanon for embalming the dead.
Cedar wood is used as an insect repellent in its native Lebanon and is used in clothes drawers and wardrobes in the UK and around the world as a clothes-moth repellent.
In the UK, cedar was planted in the grounds of nearly every stately home and mansion from the 1740s onwards; however, it is not commonly planted today.
Sweet Chestnut
Timber Properties: good strength whilst remaining relatively light.
Environmental considerations: The tree flowers to help provide a good source of pollen and nectar for bees and other insects. Red squirrels and other animals eat the nuts the tree provides.
Timber Uses: Sweet chestnut can be used for structural purposes but is more commonly used for carpentry, joinery and furniture.
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