Stages in a Tree's Life....

....4 mature tree trunks, hundreds of saplings and a Swiss woodpile. Most of the forest around here is copper beech which is so lovely in all seasons. It is strange that beech trees don't lose all of their leaves in the autumn like other deciduous trees but keep most of them on till the buds push out new leaves. This process is called marcescence (new word for me). It is particularly noticeable in the young saplings.

Snowing again.