General Tree pics

[David Humphries]

Some really nice reductions you have been posting on here mate...

 

Concur with that Matty

 

 

I agree with the thinning ,if reducing a crown i will barelly thin the crown at all imo it just encourages more vigorous grow back more water shoots and a bigger mess for the future! i see a lot of reductions where the crown has been thinned heavily and on trees like beech this can kill them, not sure why people feel the need to do so, but when i have worked with other climbers its mostly so they can clear hanging branches and get better routes for there climbing lines because they cant be bothered to redirect that they feel the need to remove the entire inside of a canopy.[/quote

 

 

Drives me bonkers when I see this happening, lazy & unsympathetic

 

 

 

 

 

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[gibbon]

Plus its the internal branches that you may want to prune back to in future years.

[Mark Bolam]

Hamadryad's reductions are absolutely top class.

 

The problem I find (and Hamadryad touched on this in a previous post), is that by doing such a light (ie very good, non-internodal) reduction, you are not necessarily giving the customer what they want.

 

Unfortunately my locality is littered with trees that have had AT LEAST 50% crown reductions, even on mature Oaks (12" dia. pruning cuts!).

 

People seem to think they are getting their money's worth if they insist on more being taken off.

 

If I can't talk them out of it, these days I normally walk away. I still cringe when I drive past some of the early work I did when I was told that the customer is always right!

 

I'd rather talk someone into a fell and replant than do a crazy reduction that would probably kill the tree anyway. At least my company is not linked to the monstrosity that is left if I do that. I'm sure the tree would disagree, and would prefer the chance to survive, but it is a business after all.

 

In fact, I'm pretty sure the tree would choose not to be touched in the first place, however lightly!

[Andy Collins]

Tbh what chance do we have when even local TO's are pushing for a 50% crown reduction, due to public pressure? If you tell a private client that its not good practice, they then cite that if its so bad for the tree why do the councils do it that way? its one thing trying to educate a client as to best practice, but to get them to part with hard-earned money, they want to see more sky, less leaves, better satellite signal NOW, they couldnt care less about the trees' welfare.

Most of them would rather have the tree felled than a nice delicate reduction every few years, so think the councils compromise by cutting to large %s

Edited December 21, 2009 by Andy Collins

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

mmm, so it would seem some leverage on councils from the AA might have a more educational influence on joe public than offering that "introduction to hiring an arborist day!"

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Hamadryad's reductions are absolutely top class.

 

The problem I find (and Hamadryad touched on this in a previous post), is that by doing such a light (ie very good, non-internodal) reduction, you are not necessarily giving the customer what they want.

 

Unfortunately my locality is littered with trees that have had AT LEAST 50% crown reductions, even on mature Oaks (12" dia. pruning cuts!).

 

People seem to think they are getting their money's worth if they insist on more being taken off.

 

If I can't talk them out of it, these days I normally walk away. I still cringe when I drive past some of the early work I did when I was told that the customer is always right!

 

I'd rather talk someone into a fell and replant than do a crazy reduction that would probably kill the tree anyway. At least my company is not linked to the monstrosity that is left if I do that. I'm sure the tree would disagree, and would prefer the chance to survive, but it is a business after all.

 

In fact, I'm pretty sure the tree would choose not to be touched in the first place, however lightly!

 

Firstly, respect due, anyone that walks away rather than do the wrong job is a top class arborist in my view so big up.

 

I will say this though, there are times when we know if we dont do the job they want somone else is going to do it, and lets face it, if WE do it rather than the lop and top brigade at least the damge wil be minimised i.e diysfunction, and in the future as apposed to having it felled it becomes a pollard, in time of great ecological value.

 

we have to balance what is right with what is wanted demanded and going to keep us in business and THEM out competed due to our more sympathetic approach ( cos we see the ecological significance of such a job) and better approach to delivery and service.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

We really do neeed to get over our distain for the semi pollard, it is a practice that will always be done, wether for the right or wrong reasons.

[Johny Walker]

its not pollarding its airel coppicing

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

lol, its a brave man that suggest pollarding isnt such a raw deal, it is an art and a great deal of insight is needed to pull it off well.

 

Shigo has a lot to answer for in my views, a great man but his over comunication regarding dysfunction and the "demons of D" death decay and dysfunction led to a disdain for it. Pollards are our greatest ecological asset, and i have photographic (in sequences) records of beech not only thriving after major dysfunctions but sending out ariel roots that eventualy become new trunks like those of the "cage pollard" we need a much better comprehension of the decay proscess before we right off what is the greatest most bio diverse micro habitat we have.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

recently (on an oak fell) i was spiked in logging down a trunk in sections, rings. i was stood there waiting for a refill of the saw when suddenly out of nowhere a group of tiny knat like flys descended on the outer ring of vessels exposed by the cut. These nats then all set about probing the last vessel increment and ovi positing. they had long ovipositors and it was absolutley mind blowing to see to sit there face right up to them observing this behavior. we know FAR too little about all these facets of ecology, we shouldnt right off the pollard just yet.