The picture above was taken looking down at the one metre tall hornbeam cordon that has been with us for ten years. I prune it back every autumn and some of summer's cut twigs with their dark green bark can be seen. There are also some white twigs (particularly the one in the centre of the picture) from which the bark has been recently stripped and any leaf buds gone.
I suspect a vole or mouse as the probable culprit as the work is all too small and delicate for a squirrel or deer. I hope it doesn't continue to the point where it has a major effect on the hornbeam.
The white trunk in the background on the left is the lower part of the M3 birch I talked about in yesterday's post.
