Hamas big reduction/pruning thread!

[Albedo]

So you have a straight pole with a lateral leader ??

 

Not very natural looking is it ?

 

Dont take this the wrong ay Tony but I advise customer away from what they want if it involves heavy reductions or thins, not meet them half way because I have a financial need. In the long run you are only creating more work for your selves and a headache for the client in terms of aggressive new growth.

 

Thank goodness a voice of reason at last in all the reduction stuff on arbtalk.

I'm getting that I can't look at another arbtalk reduction, followed by all the 'good job mate' comments, and the 'someone else would of done it if I hadn't done it' comments.

 

Hama whats the harm in listening to your critics, your'e sooooo stuborn sometimes:001_smile:.

 

Old snake did a good one on a oak the other day, and the poster before him (in general tree pics) did a bit of a haircut prune. Nothing that couldn't be improved on with a bit of advice, but I hung back from doing the advising.

 

Your lime hama will be a big mass of green by the end of the summer with no structure or form in sight.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Thank goodness a voice of reason at last in all the reduction stuff on arbtalk.

I'm getting that I can't look at another arbtalk reduction, followed by all the 'good job mate' comments, and the 'someone else would of done it if I hadn't done it' comments.

 

Hama whats the harm in listening to your critics, your'e sooooo stuborn sometimes:001_smile:.

 

Old snake did a good one on a oak the other day, and the poster before him (in general tree pics) did a bit of a haircut prune. Nothing that couldn't be improved on with a bit of advice, but I hung back from doing the advising.

 

Your lime hama will be a big mass of green by the end of the summer with no structure or form in sight.

 

I am listening, and replying to all as far as I am aware, this is healthy debate, I dont have to like the responses! as for the lime, it WAS a big ball of frith to start with!

 

I dont make the specs, I just work to them in the best way possible, have a look at the works here, if you think that beech reduction which is imaged before after and without leaf 3 images together and you still think i am a crap arb then by all means tell me so i can tell you your talking utter ruhbarb!

 

If your that sick of reduction threads, go away!

 

Some of us are "into it":001_tt2:

[nepia]

...re the walnut again...

Your spot on, if done with care, ensuring the cuts are perfect collars and not too much is removed foiliage wise they usualy are fine, would avoid at this time of year and for 2 months or they will certainly suffer.

 

Thanks. I find the 'not too much...foliage...' remark curious: you've removed loads there! Done to customer spec of course and I intend no criticism but I wouldn't dare take that much off a walnut in one hit. My colleague and I recently did gentle reductions on a pair and I called a halt into the height reduction on one because we'd taken more off the sides than expected. The customer understood my reasoning and was happy as it happened but I made the offer of going back next year to finish the original spec just to avoid the big single hit.

Am I just being cissy over walnuts?

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

...re the walnut again...

 

Thanks. I find the 'not too much...foliage...' remark curious: you've removed loads there! Done to customer spec of course and I intend no criticism but I wouldn't dare take that much off a walnut in one hit. My colleague and I recently did gentle reductions on a pair and I called a halt into the height reduction on one because we'd taken more off the sides than expected. The customer understood my reasoning and was happy as it happened but I made the offer of going back next year to finish the original spec just to avoid the big single hit.

Am I just being cissy over walnuts?

 

Not at all, as with ALL trees a lot of what we CAN and CANNOT get away with is dependant on the health/vitality of the tree, all trees should be treated as individuals. Always go with YOUR gut instincts, trust your feel for the trees you work on and youll never go too far wrong.

 

Walnuts are sometimes fragile, most important though is to avoid large cuts.

[Dean Lofthouse]

and you still think i am a crap arb

 

Tony, no-one is questioning your skill as an arb, you are a very talented climber and have a good eye for form and shape.

 

What is in question is the amount you take off, which is not always your decision and is the request of the customer

 

If a customer wants a tree half it's original size I try and explain to themthat if the tree is too big for them, it's in the wrong location or an inappropriate tree for them and rather than mutilate and have a never ending pattern of reductions, they should fell and replant a more appropriate tree in a more appropriate location.

 

If they still want to go ahead with a heavy reduction I try to persuade them to stage the reduction over a two or three year period

 

Your talent isn't in question mate

[nepia]

Walnuts are sometimes fragile, most important though is to avoid large cuts.

 

 

Now I'm learning: small cuts preferable, big cuts bad.

 

Thanks,

 

Jon

[josharb87]

if we felled and replanted all trees instead of reductions, we would loose a hell of alot of large, irreplaceable structures across the towns and cities, and would be left with a load of freshly staked 10foot trees that probabally wont reach 40years.

sometimes imo its best to reduce trees if purely to leave the only 5ft diameter trunk for miles arround, just so someone can look at that girth and ask themselves 'what has that tree seen' and hey if a tree needs reducing on a regular cycle, why not, its money in an arbs pocket, food for their children, and a piece of furniture on the landscape. cost isnt a great deal compared to what would be lost-reduce a veteran oak/lime/beech ect once every 5 year? £500 a time? 2k for 20 extra years, 5k for 50 extra years of a beautifull sized tree has to be worth it-how much more co2 will that reduced tree soak up than a sapling? how many extra birds, insects, fungi will live off that tree compared to a sapling?

 

nice work hama

 

and walnuts can be pollarded:001_tongue:

[nepia]

and walnuts can be pollarded:001_tongue:

 

 

 

Now you tell me!!

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Maybe being in a more urban environment you have different requirements from your clients than I do. I don't mean to imply you don't know what your doing.

 

The majority (by no means all) of our reductions are carried out on mature trees to reduce the size/weight of crowns or limbs rather than controlling the size of potentially big Beech (or LIME) in gardens. We seem to have a differing client base and perhaps thats why we have different approaches to pruning.

 

If I was allowed to do the work I feel was best for the tree in the vast majority of cases my having been up a tree would NEVER be noticed without binoculars.

 

I am glad all the "skill" questioning has been adressed, believe me i was begining to wonder if you lot knew a good prune from a bad one! its all about balance at the end of the day. consider the level of the prunes, be that 30 50 percentage points and THEN consider how well THAT SPEC has been worked.

 

As i said, the three images of the beech that I reduced is, as perfect a reduction as you could hope to achieve, it looks natural, is evenly foiliated and will not produce too much advantigeous growth, but extend normaly.

 

Walnuts can be pollarded? Only if you desire a fast hollowing of the entire heart wood region for habitat creation!

[Dean Lofthouse]

if we felled and replanted all trees instead of reductions, we would loose a hell of alot of large, irreplaceable structures across the towns and cities, and would be left with a load of freshly staked 10foot trees that probabally wont reach 40years.

sometimes imo its best to reduce trees if purely to leave the only 5ft diameter trunk for miles arround, just so someone can look at that girth and ask themselves 'what has that tree seen' and hey if a tree needs reducing on a regular cycle, why not, its money in an arbs pocket, food for their children, and a piece of furniture on the landscape. cost isnt a great deal compared to what would be lost-reduce a veteran oak/lime/beech ect once every 5 year? £500 a time? 2k for 20 extra years, 5k for 50 extra years of a beautifull sized tree has to be worth it-how much more co2 will that reduced tree soak up than a sapling? how many extra birds, insects, fungi will live off that tree compared to a sapling?

 

nice work hama

 

and walnuts can be pollarded

 

Christ Josh

 

I'm not saying all reductions should be felled!!

 

I'm simply saying, if you are going to drastically reduce something, it's not good in one hit.

 

In a domestic situation try to persuade otherwise

 

If you are going to top/pollard is MUST be kept upto which is the work most of us rely on