Possibly veteran hornbeam mgmt

[Adam M]

Hi,

I looked at a pollard hornbeam earlier. It's in a private garden by an old millhouse (apparently hornbeams were often found by millhouses as the wood was used for making bits for wheels, cogs and all that). I think it's coming onto qualifying for veteran status with a stem diameter of 102cm (girth 302cm). Approximate height of 16m. Furthest crown-spread of 30m.

 

The person who I looked at it with said that when he visited it in the autumn that it was riddled with honey fungus fruiting bodies and indeed there is much decay to the sapwood. The crown is fairly chipper to be honest although there was minor localised deadwood presumably relating to the dysfunctional sapwood on the stem. While it is a dense crown there aren't many hugely significant poor unions that were jumping out at me. The rooting area is partly surfaced as an access track which I obviously doesn't do it any favours. Approximately 70% of the rooting area is lawned.

 

There is a permanent target of the millhouse on one side and the rest would be intermittent access and sporadic dwelltimes.

 

My thoughts are to work on improving the rooting area as a priority. As shown in the "to mulch or not to mulch" thread, I'm think that a layer of cardboard across as wide an area as the customer will tolerate, mulched with hardwood chip (preferable hornbeam, more likely beech/oak chip) and collect and bung a few handfuls of earthworms on.

 

Branch removal will be minor, focusing on those that bend downwards or which are exposed/proud from the main crown outline. While it has certainly lapsed as a pollard, it really doesn't look as though there are any stems that are about to fail. The chance of failure will certainly increase in the future so should we deal with this now? There isn't a lower crown to speak of and there doesn't appear to be many suitable points to prune back to on the long stems. Would taking off a metre all over perhaps stimulate dormant buds lower down in the crown to grow, allowing a secondary crown to develop so that 5 years down the line a second reduction could be carried out? I'm very conscious that removing any of the photosynthetic area will affect how the tree deals with the honey fungus. The buds are starting to swell right now so I think we've missed the boat to carry out works for the while, but with the relatively small amount of foliage that we're thinking of removing, late summer feels like the right time to do any cutting.

 

Here are some really vague photos, does anyone have any thoughts?

 

 

 

[MATTMOSS]

Sounds like you've got it covered.

[Gary Prentice]

Try to have a look a Neville Fay's article on restoration of lapsed pollards. I think the timespan was 25-30 years.

 

What are the clients objectives?

[Adam M]

Try to have a look a Neville Fay's article on restoration of lapsed pollards. I think the timespan was 25-30 years.

 

What are the clients objectives?

 

Long-term retention. They really appreciate the tree.

[Gary Prentice]

Long-term retention. They really appreciate the tree.

 

Always good. Before doing anything could you sell the idea of a RCX to ascertain the severity of the armillaria issue?

[Adam M]

Always good. Before doing anything could you sell the idea of a RCX to ascertain the severity of the armillaria issue?

 

Hi, I presume RCX means root crown excavation? Yup the Armillaria is a concern and I'm hoping the mulch will slow it's effect. I would agree though that we should be having a dig around the roots. I think the customer would be up for it, indeed even if they weren't, it would make sense to spend an hour or 2 having a scrape around!

[treeseer]

That main fork does not look that great from here; maybe a probe around that potential split?

The flare is all above grade so RCX may not show much that is new.

If Arm. is a serious potential issue then improving overall site drainage, with deep aeration, swales etc. may be in order.

Buds swelling should not inhibit pruning. Wounds made in spring seal better than those made in winter. (Dujesieffken) Yes maybe hold off on less essential work til late summer.

 

Looks like a fun project.