Silver birch

[peatff]

They never look good till about three years after they have been done, just get in there and cut some off.

[Mick Dempsey]

Sright, always a nice bit of live growth to go back to.

[Joe Newton]

Virgin Birches are a pleasure to reduce.

 

I get a lot of re-re-re-reductions on Birches and they're a pain. The client struggles to accept that"outside of the previous points" is best.

 

Told one this week that the next time they call us I'll be felling it.

[Mick Dempsey]

I do re re re reductions as well.

 

Which rather debunks the idea they're best left or felled.

[JamesHail]

My first climbing job was a virgin silver birch reduction - took 25+ Feet out the top and pruned back, as one side was heavily weighted towards a property with a brand new roof. Remember to try and keep it to as few cuts as possible to reduce the chance of infection, and also remember that the majority of the growth goes directly upwards in a dense crown.

[JLA Arborists]

I was told any cut bigger than 2inch ish will rot back.

 

The hardest part is not to ruin the shape with it being a quite 'soft' looking tree.

Here's one I took at least 10' of the top and shaped to suit.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

[treesrus]

i always recommend a crown lift rather than a reduction. a tall slender tree is how a s.birch looks best, relatively light crown, less shadow with a higher crown and more chance for the finer branchwork to weep.

[Breezeblock]

if it does go Pete tong they are a pleasure to strip and chip and the firewoods usually pretty good

[daltontrees]

Yeah that makes sense. Spose theres only one way to learn and thats by having a go

 

Or there's the tried and tested method of getting someone who knows what they're doing to show you. You won't get that on Arbtalk.

 

It's only a tree. Get it wrong and you will only kill it, leave it as a developing risk to its owner or leave it disfigured as a highly visible and enduring testament to the questionable wisdom of uninformed experimentation.

 

I would urge you to start your career in pruning by trying to get the first few right with someone who knows their stuff. Just getting in there and cutting some off is a job best left to the itinerant tree workers in society, the ones that don't a have a reputation to lose or premises where you can find them when you realise they've got it badly wrong.

 

Oh, who cares, it's only a tree. Welcome to UK arboriculture in the 21st Century.

[Gary Prentice]

Or there's the tried and tested method of getting someone who knows what they're doing to show you. You won't get that on Arbtalk.

 

It's only a tree. Get it wrong and you will only kill it, leave it as a developing risk to its owner or leave it disfigured as a highly visible and enduring testament to the questionable wisdom of uninformed experimentation.

 

I would urge you to start your career in pruning by trying to get the first few right with someone who knows their stuff. Just getting in there and cutting some off is a job best left to the itinerant tree workers in society, the ones that don't a have a reputation to lose or premises where you can find them when you realise they've got it badly wrong.

 

Oh, who cares, it's only a tree. Welcome to UK arboriculture in the 21st Century.

 

Bad day Jules?

 

 

If I had the energy or inclination, I could go into great detail why mine has probably been worse. But instead I'm going to walk the dogs, chill out and get up tomorrow with the optimistic believe that it will be better than today.

Edited November 3, 2016 by Gary Prentice