topping scotts pine

[forestboy1978]

Basically 40ft with no branches apart from the last 15 ft right and the top. 

 

No signs of desise on needles or fungus or any obvious signs or rot around the trunk.

 

It's leaning heavily so needs some height taken off and this can be done leaving it looking cosmetically nice. 

 

It does however have ivy up the trunk. Of course this needs cutting, and then re cutting yearly. 

 

Question is, rip it off or leave it on. Would it do more damage to tear it away than to leave it to rot off?

 

Ta

[AHPP]

Unless the thing is about to fall down, just cut the ivy at the base and tell them to pull it off and put it in the brown bin in a couple of years. You'll get to climb other trees.

[forestboy1978]

1 minute ago, AHPP said:

Unless the thing is about to fall down, just cut the ivy at the base and tell them to pull it off and put it in the brown bin in a couple of years. You'll get to climb other trees.

Spoil sport ?

[forestboy1978]

They are adamant it's reduced in height by 1/3.

 

phone cables every where, busy street, pedestrian and traffic management required. 

 

 

[Husqvarna King]

26 minutes ago, forestboy1978 said:

They are adamant it's reduced in height by 1/3.

 

phone cables every where, busy street, pedestrian and traffic management required. 

 

 

1/3 off a Scott's pine?! Just recommend ivy removal or removal of whole tree. It will look shit topped and will pose more danger in the future if topped

[forestboy1978]

6 minutes ago, Husqvarna King said:

1/3 off a Scott's pine?! Just recommend ivy removal or removal of whole tree. It will look shit topped and will pose more danger in the future if topped

 

[Husqvarna King]

1 minute ago, forestboy1978 said:

 

Cable Bracing? If it needs keeping. Don't top it

[forestboy1978]

Cable bracing?

 

What's the harm in taking that taller left stem off by 8 ft and ripping off ivy

 

Surely a slightly bevelled cut on the stem would stop ponding. Sealing it perhaps even. 

 

[Husqvarna King]

7 minutes ago, forestboy1978 said:

Cable bracing?

 

What's the harm in taking that taller left stem off by 8 ft and ripping off ivy

 

Surely a slightly bevelled cut on the stem would stop ponding. Sealing it perhaps even. 

 

What difference would 8ft make?? Sealing was not recommended years ago. It does more harm than good.

Edited November 24, 2018 by Husqvarna King

[AHPP]

Nice tree in my opinion. Topping one side to the height of the other won’t look too bad in the grand scheme of things but it’s still a bad idea and will still look worse than doing nothing. It’ll be a shit job fighting the brash down too. Scots pine is heavy and grows in knots, clumps, layers etc. You’ll do a lot of pulling stuff and getting angry in front of an audience. And then there’ll be the regrowth. I don’t think even that will look too bad but you’re always setting up for rot, weak unions etc. That’s poor form. I’d maybe take it as an opportunity to show the client your tree knowledge and that you understand that just because you can do something, you don’t have to. Or if they don’t care about that and you don’t mind running the risk their friends might hate it and badmouth your work, then crack on. You’ll learn something. It looks like a good tree to learn dismantling on btw.

 

At the end of the day it’s their tree and your job and I’m not going to bleat about how we need to revere trees like ancient deities but hope the above helps you.