Throughout its natural life, a tree will face all manner of trials. These can be as a result of encroaching human development, competition from their neighbours or even the relentless cycle of the elements around them. Some will weather the storm better than others and go on to be prominent champions of the landscape. Read more »

The hazel dormouse, Muscardinus avellanarius, is one of the UK’s smallest and rarest protected mammal species. With its sleepy nature and fluffy, golden-brown fur, the hazel dormouse is undoubtedly one of our most adorable resident species. Beatrix Potter once kept one as a pet, naming her Xarifa, and wrote in her journal, “I think Read more »

Our team always take great pride and feel a great sense of responsibility to honour the fellow foresters that came before us, particularly when it comes to utilising timber from the trees that they so lovingly planted and tended for decades or centuries before us. When we manage our woodlands, we always work with Read more »

Some shocking statistics that might make you reconsider the value of the brown friable substrate I call soil but many people call “muck” or “dirt”. Across our UK landscape, we would be forgiven for thinking that our carbon stocks are in our trees and hedgerows but in fact 95% of land carbon stocks are Read more »

Author: Harriet Smith, Landscape Department What is Building with Nature Building with Nature (BwN) is the UK's first green infrastructure benchmark which provides a framework for the creation of high-quality places with an environmental focus.  Schemes can gain BwN accreditation by demonstrating that excellent quality green infrastructure is placed at the heart of Read more »

This April, we would like to raise awareness about an emerging threat to our cherished oak trees: the Oak Processionary Moth (OPM). This species of moth, characterised by its caterpillars that nest on oak trees, poses significant risks to both the health of our trees and the well-being of humans and animals. Understanding OPM: Read more »

On the 27th July 2023 DEFRA announced the indicative prices for statutory biodiversity credits: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/statutory-biodiversity-credit-prices#area-habitats Where biodiversity net gain credits are not able to be balanced on site, or off-set within land held by the developer, credits may be purchased from DEFRA’s “credit sales service” at a ratio of 2 credits per 1 biodiversity unit Read more »

“We are delighted to announce that John Lockhart has been granted approved assessor status for Building with Nature (BwN). Building with Nature is the UK’s first accreditation scheme that provides a robust benchmark for green infrastructure.  The scheme is now becoming widely recognised and valued.  It involves an independent evaluation against 12 identified standards, Read more »

Transport remains the largest emitting sector in the UK, responsible for 34% of carbon emissions in 2022 (Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, 2022). The rise in electric vehicles is a positive step towards a cleaner transport sector; Nicholsons has so far purchased 7 electric vehicles and has ambitions to expand this further. Read more »