A mighty oak that will fall
The Oxford Times interview CEO Gabriel Hemery about the Sylva Foundation, focussing on the OneOak project to be launched in 2010.
nurturing a wood culture, growing a future
Children sow a new generation of oak trees
Niel Nicholson of Nicholson Nurseries visited Bladon Primary school today to help sow the next generation of oak trees. We have already posted the story of how difficult it has been to collect acorns this autumn see here. With help from many of the staff of Blenheim Palace, the total number of seeds collected by…
SYMM builders become partner
We are pleased to announce that Oxford-based building company SYMM are our newest partners in the OneOak project. The company was founded in 1815; some 35 years before the OneOak tree was planted at Blenheim Estate. SYMM have since worked with many of our most pre-eminent architects on the design and construction of many of…
How much wood?
Wood gurus James Binning from Deep in Wood sawmill and furniture designer Phil Koomen visited the OneOak tree this week. We asked for their expert opinion as to the possible amount of usable timber we may be able to harvest from the tree. We hope to be able to make many wooden products from the…
OneOak artist Rebecca Hind
We are delighted that a very talented artist will be working on the OneOak project. Rebecca Hind is an Oxfordshire-based artist who works predominently with paint. She has exhibited widely both in Britian and abroad. “Oak trees have long held a significant place in our culture, one that goes way beyond ornament or function. Once…
Home-grown wood
The Oxford Times -In Business- interview CEO Gabriel Hemery and Director of Forestry Alistair Yeomans about Sylva’s aim to support sustainable forestry.
Difficulties collecting acorns
Collecting seeds (acorns) from the OneOak tree has been a long-standing plan. Unfortunately the tree had other ideas and has produced very few acorns this year. Growing a new generation of oak seedlings is an important part of the project as it will actively demonstrate the cycle of life and the sustainablility of growing trees.…
100 days to go
One hundred days from today the OneOak tree will be felled. This seemed a good opportunity to provide a general update on project progress. The school visits have been going well and so far, all the children have enjoyed visiting the tree and learnt a lot about woodlands and trees. More posts from the schools…
School visits … progress report
Several schools have now been out to meet the OneOak and all have had a fantastic time. We have been very lucky with the weather, even this week when it was supposed be pretty wet. Everybody has had a lovely time walking out to the tree and trying to find conkers on the way. Once…
Leaf area measurements
Forest Research have now provided us with the results of their analysis of the OneOak tree’s leaf area. After taking the spectacular images of the tree canopy with the hemispherical camera lens (see post of September 18th), they used special software to calculate how much of the sky was visible underneath the tree. Leaf Area…