Ash tree works.. advice required please

[Twentyeight Trees]

Hi all. 
 

I have a bit of a potentially tricky situation with an ash tree and would really appreciate some opinions please. 
 

Domestic customer has a very mature ash tree overhanging her boundary, the crown and limbs significantly overhanging her small garden and seating area. the customer is not the tree owner. it grows from within a copse of trees surrounding a fishing lake. 

 

we initially planned to reduce the spread of the 3 offending limbs by a few metres, bread and butter works…. Upon climbing the tree I found some large pockets of decay at the base of one of the larger limbs and the pruning points I had lined up from initial quotation photographs during winter were deadwood. 

I felt as if more should come now for safety purposes but had a bad gut feeling about making larger wounds in a potentially 80+ year old ash tree. I know it’s early in the season but the tree is in good health with little signs of adb, full crown with not a huge display of internal Epicormic growth. The tree has had various weird and wonderful works carried out to it, some look professional, others certainly ladder and pole saw,  It’s responded really well to all. 

I came down from the tree to reassess as I had an anxious moment that our pruning wounds could kill the tree or atleast send it into decline and I’ll be held liable. 
 

1. Continue as planned, reduce spread by 2.5m and pray for growth points. 

 

2. Pollard limbs at approx 50% of spread to remove more weight. 

3. Remove the 3 limbs at collar and monitor decay. Other small/medium size limbs have been removed at the collar and are responding well. I lean toward this option
 

4. Walk away from the job. 

 

Last question. Is there any way to cover myself that if the tree is to respond negatively to our pruning works I’m not liable?. The trees are neglected and the owner isn’t bothered about maintaining them. 
 

Photos from tree are below, not the best as taking them from inside the tree isn’t the easiest task. 
 

sorry about the long winded thread! I’m rather heavily sleep deprived due to a 1 year old and find decision making a little harder now! 
 

Thanks all

 

[Mark J]

Either get a consultant in to undertake a detailed inspection on the basis of your observations, or recommend fell and replant If you are unsure and they don't have the funds. If they decide to keep it in its current form then it's on them.

[Dan Maynard]

You now know there is decay at the base of that limb, I would say a complete limb failure then becomes reasonably foreseeable even if reduced slightly so option 1 is out.

 

I don't think complete removal of the limbs makes sense, you will increase the decay pocket and make stem failure more likely.

 

To me that leaves option 2, or as above fell. 

 

I don't think you can avoid liability as such, unless as suggested above you get a consultant to specify the works it would be on them. My tree surgery insurance includes professional indemnity as long as I'm not paid for the advice, so in a case like this I would have a degree of cover. Doesn't make it an easy choice though.

 

Some of it comes down to the client and owners attitude to the tree, if everyone hates it then removal becomes easier to recommend.

[Kylus Sylvestris]

I went to the dentist for a filling the other day. On entering my mouth with his tools he discovered a longitudinal crack in the tooth - not externally visible, and not apparent to me as the root had been killed a few weeks earlier. In any case, I left with a temporary filling and three quotes for a crown.... which he advised me to consider and act on within the immediate future. 

If your 'contract' is with the neighbour (and assuming the pruning of overhang is otherwise legal) then you could proceed as intended. Taking a little weight off can't be all that damaging in the grand scheme of things.

Did the tree owner know about the work? Did you trespass to climb the tree? Have you contacted the tree owner and mentioned what you've found? etc etc...

[daltontrees]

There seem to be a few issues here.

 

Firstly, does the customer have the right to have you do the tree work? The tree does not belong to the customer, so the answer is no unless the works are only to parts overhanging the customer's property. Personally i don't worry too much about trespass into the tree if it is only to be able to do the work safely and if no additional damage is done to the tree because of trespass.

 

Secondly, given that you have identified defects you have a 'duty to warn', even if you have not been specifically asked to assess risks. The duty porbably only extends to recommending that the defects be professionally assessed. Keep the duty separate from your other dealings with the customer and if you do nothing else you must warn.

 

Thirdly, do the defects strengthen the rationale for dealing with  the overhanging parts or do they mean that the whole tree is a risk to the customer? Apprehension of risk can be  asound reason for action, but this could take 2 forms, either self-abatement to the extent allowed at common law or contacting the tree owner and asking for action (which also would help estabilsh a case for negligence  later). Tread carefully if you get involved in this aspect.

 

Finally, if your actions might kill the tree, be sure to let the customer know of the risks so that they can make an informed decision. Make a note for yourself of what and when you advised. Putting the advice in writing is an option but not always the best one. If they instruct you to go ahead in knowledge of the risks, you are OK, with one big proviso. If you do the work in accordance with industry best practice (think BS3998) then there's really nothing to fear. But as you seem to know already, opening ripewood in Ash is never good. BS3998 is not just about how you do the work, it's about decisions made (usually in the tree on the day) about what to do. The BS has guidance about sizes and numbers of cuts.

 

Personally I think it's quite hard to stop healthy ash from growing just by pruning. But nothing lasts forever and there comes a point where the person hating the overhang of a neighbour's tree has to be able to do something about it without fearing long-term consequences. The law (at least Scots Law does, english law is a little more primitive) says that when there is more than one way to do things, the least mischevious should be chosen.

 

I'll jsut add, that knothole looks like it has some significant bat roost potential.

[Mike Hill]

Option 1

 

It wont likely die from your intended works, take the money and move on to the next job.