Dodgy Syc..

[Andy R]

Been working on and off for this bloke for a while now. He has loads of land all surrounding his substantially sized abode...Loves to leave most of his tree's as they are, deadwood and all...likes it that way. Alot of stuff near roads though, his property..(few hundred acres at least)..is surrounded on all sides by b-roads so we have been doing alot of roadside stuff...deadwood/raising/fells etc...

 

This syc is by the house and right on the roadside...managed to persuade him to reduce the wieght of the only limb in danger of hitting the road but as for the next step he is ever so slightly indecisive....I think he would like to leave it alone personally, to the point of asking us where he stands legally should anything happen...I think he wanted us to tell him it was going to be ok and then if anything happened would have some kind of comeback..not sure, but that was the vibe we had...anyway we told him he would need to get a tree survery done by someone who had the relevant quali's/insurance/professional indemnity etc...

 

for those of you in that position, would you put your name/neck on the line or condemn it straight away..??

 

we suggested 2 courses of action with 1 of them being our favoured solution.

 

edit..didn't photgraph it but the first bulge above the wall is an even larger hole, 2ft+ deep at least...and the side limb is over some power lines

[Rod]

what a cool tree bet its hollow right through

 

i wouldnt want to own it in its situation.

[Marc]

Thats quite an old historic wound, and if thats another wound by bulge, then without seeing it i'd say that to is an old wound and the bulging is reactive growth,,,, possibly.

Basically they are old wounds and the tree hasn't fallen over yet! even in the recent snow and wind.

 

The trees stayed standing this long alright, and think of the valueble habitat it provides, i'd do everything i can to eep it, just carry out some slight remedial works as a duty of care.

 

That big limb going of the powerlines is immense i love limbs like that, i'd love even more getting out there and nicely reducing, maybe not going quite as hard as that limb on the left, if thats the growth point on top, i hope you reduced that to.

[Andy R]

Thanks marc, yes that is a growth point on the limb over the road...there was a hell of alot of weight past the wound on that limb so took it back to just before it. The limb over the power lines and the limb going out of the top away from the camera are very large, lot of weifht and is causing the tree to twist in even the slightest wind...It certainly needs something doing to it imo. The difficulty is removing sufficient weight without destroying the shape as there is very little suitable poiints at the desired percentage reduction mark...25% out of the crown is what we suggested, or just fell it.

[Marc]

Sycamore can be a real pain to reduce effectivly, crappy growth points in inner crown, the wounds you end up leaving are often larger than the sub branch you went back to, reducing the secondary growth points you've pruned too is a pain etc etc.

 

Pictures are so misleading, but i'll just throw this out there (i'm no expert can only go on my experience with tree like that Syc) you could reduce that big heavy limb over the wire maybe not as hard as the one over the road unless there are splits in the stem amongst other major defects say 30%, I always think of it like the tree has coped so far with that weight and sail through all kinds of weather for its safe to say a fair number of years, sometimes less is more! and is just as effective in reducing the risk.

You could then thin/reduce the top by drop crotching by 20-25%, its easier to do on an Acer, i prefer though to then reduce the secondary limb you reduce but thats the trick bit to do nicely.

[Andy R]

Less is more I agree..but the end result needs to satisfy the client concern over the safety of the tree, and what lies beneath it..

 

The large limb over the wires is structurally fine, no visible wounds or anything like that. The crown is mainly made up of laterals, there is no real centre to it at all, in fact the climbers anchor point would be below the height of the large lateral going away from the camera. It's not the best tree to reduce tbh....I think the boss would rather try and keep it if we can, as woudl the client...me, I would rather get the crane in and fell it. I can't see the end result being pretty and he has so many other tree's in a similar state in open ground on his property I don't see the need to keep this one given it's location...

[gibbon]

I certainly wouldn't condem it, but equally could not give firm advice just by those photos.

 

A suitable reduction would be my first consideration, if the natural shape and form of the tree can be retained.

 

If not, unless basal decay is so extensive total collapse is imminent, I would certainly be trying to maintain as much of the trunk/tree as possible as a habitat.

[Andy R]

Interesting, cheers. Always like to hear peoples opinions on when and if a tree should be condemned. So would some people prefer to keep a trunk/hard reduction for habitat whatever the location or if it came to that would a removal be the prefferred course of action.?

 

I would like to hear what a surveyor thinks, would they put their name to a tree that has a risk of failure, or do they take a certain amount of risk home with them in the name of preservation/conservation..?

 

Maybe being a bit naive but if a tree looks/feels like this one does/did then I would suggest a serious course of action rather than a "less is more" standpoint.

 

Also I appreciate it's nigh on impossible to give an accurate answer off the back of a few pics, but all replies appreciated.

[Big 'Ammer]

Interesting, cheers. Always like to hear peoples opinions on when and if a tree should be condemned. So would some people prefer to keep a trunk/hard reduction for habitat whatever the location or if it came to that would a removal be the prefferred course of action.?

 

I would like to hear what a surveyor thinks, would they put their name to a tree that has a risk of failure, or do they take a certain amount of risk home with them in the name of preservation/conservation..?

 

Maybe being a bit naive but if a tree looks/feels like this one does/did then I would suggest a serious course of action rather than a "less is more" standpoint.

 

Also I appreciate it's nigh on impossible to give an accurate answer off the back of a few pics, but all replies appreciated.

 

Its got a large hole, its near the wires, its next to the wall, its over the road, ......

 

He's got hundreds of acres and lots of trees.

 

Fell it.

 

Or leave it as a standing trunk for conservation value.

[Marc]

Its got a large hole' date=' its near the wires, its next to the wall, its over the road, ......

 

He's got hundreds of acres and lots of trees.

 

Fell it.

 

Or leave it as a standing trunk for conservation value.[/quote']

 

 

All i'm trying to say is just because a tree has a large hole doesn't always mean the tree is dangerously unsafe, and sometimes a more gentle course of action can be enough.

 

But your right looks like the client already has a good tree stock, it is only one Sycamore the client probably has many others in much better condition. The option of turning into a high trunk maybe above that high wound as a good habitat is an option.