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Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

By Andy Patters, Tutor Horticulture, ADL Online Education on July 26, 2016 in Horticulture | comments

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is a common wildflower with medical properties and a rich folklore, which should be welcome in any garden. It belongs to the large sunflower family, Asteraceae, and is quite closely related to chamomiles. The most striking feature of Yarrow is the feathery fern- like leaves with finely cut segments which are quite characteristic. The name millefolium indicates the many segments of its foliage. It is sometimes called Milfoil and Thousand Weed...
 

 

Hazel (Corylus Avellana)

By Andy Patterson, Horticulture Tutor, ADL Online Education on July 26, 2016 in Horticulture | comments

Hazel makes excellent dense cover for birds, and is often used as an understory in conservation woodlands for that purpose. It has been used since prehistory as a coppicing tree, and provides roundwood poles which can be used for wattle fencing, shelters houses, and gates. Coppice poles are suitable for use from age 3- 4 years, but anything up to 7 years can still be useful. Coppice woodlands using hazel for roundwood are often split into zones, and a rotation is employed to provide... 

 

How will Brexit (The UK-EU Referendum) affect UK Wildlife?

By Lee Raye, Tutor, ADL Online Education on July 7, 2016 in Animals | comments

In the UK most of our wildlife legislation does not come from the EU, and therefore cannot be affected by Brexit. For example, the Ground Game Act (1880) controls which species can be hunted, when they can be hunted, and who they can be hunted by. This Act obviously pre-dates the EU, and is very unlikely to change just because we leave. The same is true of our Pests Act (1954) and even our Wild Mammals Protection Act (1996)...