What to do with this beech

[Treedan]

Hi all.

We have been looking after this magnificent bundle beech for a number of years now but now i need some advice.

Its an ancient tree with most of the usual features, decay pockets, cavities, split forks and so on. 

Over the years we have propped and braced limbs and done some light reduction work here and there.

The tree is suffering from soil compaction around probably 40-50% of its rooting area underneath the canopy which is caused by foot traffic and the tree is now showing signs of dieback within the crown. Im not 100% sure the compaction is to blame for the dieback because of the age of the tree but its a good starting point.

I have suggested de-compacting the soil and moving the target zone by fencing off the trees, trying to get something growing underneath to further dissuade pedestrians from walking underneath and to create new paths elsewhere for them to walk but hes taking a lot of convincing. 

 Now i know im very limited to what reduction work i can do to this tree, BUT in your experiences would you leave the crown alone, give it a light reduction or prune it back hard and hope it responds? Bearing in mind i will probably not solve the compaction issue. I know what i would normally do but im looking for alternative views on this as my options are very limited here.

Thanks for looking

[Khriss]

Definitely don't crown reduce! (leaves are what feed the tree) rotted woodchip on path to allow earthworms to decompact soil. An a competent person inspection of trunk n root flare to determine safe life span of tree. ( which landowner should have done anyway) k

[Treedan]

I'm all for natural decompaction Khriss but the leaves of the tree and all of the seeds are left there every year so I cant see as wood chip will make that much difference to be honest. 

[Alinicoll]

If you could persuade the owner to instal even a low fence around the rooting area that would probably help massively with the compaction. 2 - 3 ft post and rope fencing looks nice and whilst it doesn't stop people, most won't cross it, great for highlighting and protecting the tree. There is little point in decompacting if the compaction can re occur. What sort of site is it?

[Paul Cleaver]

Soil aeration would achieve instant soil compaction relief, then add much afterwards

[Stubby]

As above . Air Spade then mulch . Then prevent traffic over the roots .

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

...and avoid any future large diameter stem cuts