An investigation into the properties and characteristics of our trees.
Hemlock
It is mainly grown for timber and wood pulp in the UK, although it is also planted as an ornamental tree in parks and gardens. Western hemlock wood is commonly used for roofing and boxes as it holds nails well without splitting.
Sycamore
Timber Properties: A fine and straight grain and good strength properties.
Environmental considerations: Sycamore attracts aphids which provides food for many of their predators such as ladybirds, hoverflies and birds. The tree flowers to help provide a good source of pollen and nectar for bees and other insects. The seeds are a food source for birds and other small mammals.
Timber Uses: Internal joinery and furniture.
Yew
Workability: Difficult
Moisture content: Medium.
Durability: Durable
Structural strengths: A tough, resilient wood, equal to oak in hardness and in compressive strength along the grain, but rather inferior to oak in resistance to splitting.
Aesthetics: The sapwood is very narrow and white in colour sharply demarcated from the heartwood which varies in colour from orange-brown to dark purplish-brown, the lighter- coloured wood often containing darker streaks.
Density: Good
Potential uses: Joinery – exterior such as handrails and bannisters, joinery – interior such as handrails and bannisters, architraves and shelving. Timber slats and purlins, furniture, flooring, beams and cladding.
Environmental and ecological considerations: Yew offer dense, protective nesting areas for many birds. Its fruit is eaten by birds and small mammals
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