crown reductions on beech with merrip, whats peoples thoughts

[skyhuck]

I cut a Beech in half today.

 

It had Merip, its now of a size that if it does fail it will miss the house and power line, but chances are it now won't fail due to reduced wind sail.

 

Safety comes first in my book.

[MattyF]

I would seriously monitor the tree,have reduced a beech by 35% have had healthy regen then its blown over....no roots at all to anchor but the gardener kept pulling the brackets off and not telling any one they were there!!! the original reduction took 3 days and the tree filled three large gardens when it went over, luckily not the other way in to a main road.. I reduced last year that i am keeping a very close eye on all seems well at the momment.

[John Shutler]

3 pages of good responses

[Mark Bolam]

If I ended up the human equivalent of a Beech with Merip, I would be most grateful if someone would be kind enough to shoot me, rather than cutting my arms and legs off.

[Dean Lofthouse]

If I ended up the human equivalent of a Beech with Merip, I would be most grateful if someone would be kind enough to shoot me, rather than cutting my arms and legs off.

 

Spot on Mark, as usual mate

[skyhuck]

They are already vegetables.

[arb culture]

I think a quick summary of the above posts would be: It depends on a lot of factors - take each case as it comes.

[arb culture]

but given recently aired views about thick arborists who dont know 6 is 9 , just the other way up....I will withdraw hastily!

 

Where are these views posted? I can't find them.

[Mesterh]

I looked at a job the other day which was an 18 foot ish old beech monolith that had fell over. Extremely lucky it hadn't gone another 15 degrees or so towards the road. The sharp bend it was on means someone woulda had a bad day in there car!

 

I hadn't seen it before it was on the deck but looks as though it was a straight ish stem. Hollowed out and basically sponge at the base.

 

Don't put off the inevitable if there are targets, fell and replant.

[Marc]

ignoring all the logical discussion on risk factors/targets etc

 

Is reducing a tree with Merip viable as a risk reduction measure?? We all know heavy reductions on Beech not only effect the canopy but also what goes on underground with the roots, so by reducing the sail area are we also reducing the stability by the effects of heavy reduction on the roots, and as Merip effects the roots of Beech will reducing actually reduce the chance of failure at all?

 

I'd say a reduction could only be carried out after investigation of the root plate by airspade and possibly resistograph to discover the true extent of the decay unless a better history of the tree is already known, but i'm only a humble climber and by no means an expert in this field.

 

Basically we all know about Targets and Risks, but what about best management to carry out if the targets/risks are low? Is it better to leave alone dare we cause more problems to the root zone and stress the tree lowering its ability to naturally defend itself.

Or am i making no sense what so ever?