The Common Oak Tree

• The common, or Irish oak is unlike other trees as it can establish deep roots even in light sandy soils.
• Those roots cause oaks to be struck by lightning more than any other trees because they form a good earth connection with groundwater.
• Some farmers plant them intentionally as lightning conductors.
• Further back in history, the Germans regarded the tree as the god of thunder.
• The oaks from those times have now all died, but the last of them are not long dead, because oaks can, according to the estimates, live for 1,500 years.
• When an oak grows in a favourable position it can become 45 metres (150 ft) tall.
• Such a huge tree provides a home to many animals more than any other tree.
• This is why far more oaks should be planted.
• The main factor that prevents more of them from being planted is their extremely slow rate of growth.
• The oak grows on any type of soil except deep peat and marshy ground.
• The oak leaves open in late April or early May.
• They change to a dull brown colour in late October and are slow to fall.
• The flowers appear after the leaves.
• But they are small and green and are hard to see.

The Elder

• The Elder is a very quick growing tree.
• It may reach a height of about 7 metres (23 feet) when growing in a wood.
• But it is most commonly seen in hedges, where it rarely grows higher than a shrub.
• The Elder is very common throughout the country.
• The bark is greyish-brown and the young stems are filled with soft pith.
• The leaf-buds are reddish and are not stalked.
• The creamy white flowers open in July and have a strong scent.
• Each individual flower is actually very small.
• But the flowers are in close groups that look like large flat discs.
• In September the Elder has masses of black berries, which are used for making elderberry wine.
• The wood is light yellow and was once used for making skewers.
• The scent of the leaves is unpleasant to insects.

The Crab Apple

• It is a native tree of Ireland and is very common in woods and hedgerows.
• The crab-apple grows to a height of no more than 10 metres.
• The shape of a crab apple tree varies a great deal but usually the branches are spreading and slightly drooping.
• The rose-pink or pinkish-white flowers appear in the month of April.
• The flowers appear just before the leaves.
• They look very lovely as they are in clusters on short shoots.
• The apples ripen in October.
• They are small and may be either yellow or red.
• Whichever colour they are, they are much too bitter to eat.
• But they can be made into excellent jelly.