old oak predicament!

[gingertreeninja]

we have been working on a great job in the rectory of a local church this week, removing two large diseased beeches and reducing another plus are ment to be reducing this large oak ( pic 1 ). problem is on doing an arieal inspection of the big old girl we found massive cracks and rot on all the major scaffold beams ( rest of pics ). A light reduction i dont think will prevent failure and there is power lines under one of the beams. we thought that if we removed the beam over the lines and then got this generaly unused part of the garden fenced of and let the tree sort its self out would be an intresting and more environmental option than removal. cost is another factor as the church council have to fork up the money. any opinions?

[Mark Bolam]

Light reduction = future bag of sh**e IMO in this situation.

 

Tough call though, with the public access and power line issues.

 

Over to you MonkeyD.....

[sean]

we have been working on a great job in the rectory of a local church this week, removing two large diseased beeches and reducing another plus are ment to be reducing this large oak ( pic 1 ). problem is on doing an arieal inspection of the big old girl we found massive cracks and rot on all the major scaffold beams ( rest of pics ). A light reduction i dont think will prevent failure and there is power lines under one of the beams. we thought that if we removed the beam over the lines and then got this generaly unused part of the garden fenced of and let the tree sort its self out would be an intresting and more environmental option than removal. cost is another factor as the church council have to fork up the money. any opinions?

 

I think you know exactly the best option. As you say....remove the hazard with regards the power lines. And then remove the public target. This can be achieved with fencing.....allowing the area around the tree to grow wild.etc....a couple of options. A twenty to 25% selective reduction would be fine too. If this tree was in a similar area in Richmond Park it would have a 25% reduction possibly more so on specific limbs. The power line is the issue here. deal with that.

[Mark Bolam]

Sean do you not think the regen from a 20-25% red would totally ruin the character of the tree?

 

I'd go fence all round and warn the power company.

 

Poles can be moved more easily than a tree like that!

 

Glad noones talking felling though mate!

[David Humphries]

I would generally agree with Seans MO, though a thorough inspection is required imo, pull tests etc.....

 

Really can't base even opinion on just a few photos.

 

 

 

Good luck with the outcome GTN, let us know what gets decided/actioned.

It's certainly a very interesting project

 

 

 

Rectories, Belfries, Habitat Oak & recently removed old decayed Beeches = Batastic habitation assesment me thinks.

That is ofcourse if you didn't already before the removals.

 

 

 

 

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[gingertreeninja]

thanks for the input guys. i will keep you posted on what the church council decide. i am going to try and get the fenced of area passed. this could be planted out with the replacement trees too and left to develop into a lovely natural woodland.

i did a full inspection of the trees before i removed them and the only hollows or cracks where bats could have been were very wet and waterlogged so i was pretty cofident they were clear. hated taking out the beeches but unfortunately people come before trees in this unfair world

[sean]

thanks for the input guys. i will keep you posted on what the church council decide. i am going to try and get the fenced of area passed. this could be planted out with the replacement trees too and left to develop into a lovely natural woodland.

i did a full inspection of the trees before i removed them and the only hollows or cracks where bats could have been were very wet and waterlogged so i was pretty cofident they were clear. hated taking out the beeches but unfortunately people come before trees in this unfair world

 

 

Was it not possible to retain the beech as standing dead wood in the form of 4 - 5m monoliths?....Next time perhaps.

[josharb87]

light reduction and boa/cobra brace? is knocking it back hard not an option? (question aimed at anyone!)

[Stephen Blair]

thump it back and give the tree a longer life, leaving it alone might make it split out and wreck the trunk so shorten its life. You will loose its shape but i am not a believer in bracing stuff up, i have had to try and deal with trees that have eventually failed after years of bracing and you can end up loosing everything. ps, the fence posts need to be made from something aswell.