Reading Trees on ITV’s This Morning
It was great fun teaching Daisy Payne how to read trees for ITV’s This Morning programme. You might also enjoy: How to Read a Tree…
Tag: trees
Leaves are a Lighter Colour in Early Spring
The first leaves in spring are much lighter in colour than those of summer. As the seasons progress, the leaves have a higher concentration of…
Temperature Changes in Woodland
The trees we walk under have a dramatic effect on the temperature we feel. I passed from broadleaf trees to conifers and felt the temperature…
Clues and Signs in Nature: Northern and Southern Hemisphere
I receive quite a few emails asking whether my books are relevant for readers in the Southern Hemisphere. The answer is ‘yes’, but only if…
Woodland Trust Podcast
I recently went for a woodland walk with the BBC journalist Adam Shaw. We talked about the clues and signs we can look in trees…
How To Tell Which Tree is Older?
Which is the older of these two large trees? Clue: there are a few ways we can age trees, including one related to natural navigation.…
Reading Trees on BBC Radio 4 Today
It was an honour and a great pleasure to get the chance to talk about reading tree signs with Justin Webb on BBC Radio 4’s…
Spring Starts Low in Trees
Leaves burst out earliest low down in the smallest trees and lowest branches. For more seasonal tree signs, please see How to Read a Tree.
How Do Trees Know When It’s Spring
How Do Trees Know When It’s Spring? Broadleaf trees have to work out the best time to come into leaf each year, they need to…
The Proof is in my Hands!
Only a couple of months until How to Read a Tree is born… Getting exciting now! Yesterday I spent a very enjoyable afternoon investigating trees…
The North Side, The South Side
The North side of the logs… The South side of the logs. You might also enjoy: Natural Navigation Using Snow on Trees What is a…
The Art of Perception in Nature
Take a good look at this photo before reading on… Did you spot it? We notice anomalies, colours or shapes that don’t ‘fit’ – that…
The Stickiness of Water
Water rises up and forms individual droplets on leaves because it is ‘sticky’, it is literally attracted to itself. The hydrogen atoms in each molecule…
How to Read a Tree
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER THE AMAZON BESTSELLER THE OFFICIAL INDIE NO.1 BESTSELLER WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE MONTH Do two trees ever appear identical? No, but…
The Coleridge School of Poetry Writing
I’ve just finished my second reading of Richard Holmes’ scintillating two-book biography of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (I’m a fan of both Holmes’ and Coleridge’s writing,…
Book Cover Reveal
This is the UK cover of my latest book, How to Read a Tree. Hope you like it. It can be pre-ordered through the usual…
Finding Your Way in Lord of the Rings
My thanks to Gretchen Lorenzen for writing to me with this interesting observation (and permission to share it): “Beyond enjoying the clues outdoors, though, I…
Little and Large Natural Navigation Clues
Sometimes natural navigation is more challenging than others. I’m often asked, “What is the most difficult place to navigate using nature?” I think people expect…
Wayfinding with Rosebay Willowherb – Chamerion angustifolium
Rosebay willowherb (Chamerion angustifolium) is tall late-summer wildflower with distinctive pink-purple flowers that grow in tall spikes from July-September, with spirals of lance-like leaves. It…
The Meaning of Wood Pigeons
It is hard to go for a country walk and not send a wood pigeon or two up into the air ahead of us. Their…
Snow Signs in Finland
My thanks to Chris, who writes with some very interesting observations from the Kangasala region of Finland: “In the first picture (above), if you look…