Ash Reduction by Glen Poole

[Paul Barton]

The pic at the start of the thread highlights just how far UK arboriculture has come in the last 20 years, its just a pity all of it's been downhill.

 

 

All of it? I haven't been doing this 20 years yet but talking to people that have I can't agree with your statement.

 

eg we are not painting wounds any more, cable bracing is much less intrusive, we have more knowledge about pests and diseases, working practices are safer, decay detection technology has made vast leaps, protection for trees on development sites has begun to improve........

[Drella]

You been smoking crack boy?

 

Here, use this AV.....

[Glen Poole]

just fancied another look lol

[Steve Bullman]

haha havent read you for a while glen! things ok?

[Glen Poole]

yeh really good fella, i'm still on here daily, just lurking in the background, works really busy at the moment & i'm studying for the tec cert at merrist wood so couldn't be happier or stressed lol, how about you?

[Steve Bullman]

yep cant grumble mate. worked quietened down for a couple weeks back there but now its gone haywire...can never seem to find that happy medium!!

[Glen Poole]

yep i know what you mean, it's been like that down here too but now works picked up lets hope it stays that way

[toprotter]

Personally I think walking through london under the mighty london planes for example gives the streets an air of history and atmosphere.....and they are only there through management

You can see the evolution of arboriculture in the previous pollards from removing branches from a ladder to the progression of climbing out further on the limbs..

Through management and understanding new planting schemes can choose to plant the correct species in the right location avoiding the old "wrong tree wrong place' but the established trees in this country are here and our plots and spaces are cramped so measurements through reductions enable us to maintain green specs in our urban landscapes.

To me glenn has done a good job and retained the tree and its shape it may not be a veteran tree or one of great beauty but it is a living moving landscape and far better than no tree at all. Unless a tree is a hazard our job is to retain and look after them and when it comes to trees in the last stages of its phenology then we can slowly help them gracefully return to earth

Bit of a ramble but on the perry......................

[treewizard]

 

I have to agree there MB.

 

 

 

ill second that!!

[treemeup]

I think Glen has done a good job on that there tree! reducing is sometimes the only option for some clients and we have to respect what people wish done to there property, a large tree like that can have a massive negative impact on some peoples lives.

I do love hitting the ground after a day doing a large reduction and it looks spot on...although the whole tree shape thing I disagree with, in my opinion a reduction should be based on the original shape of the tree.

 

I also believe that reducing/pollarding is a bad practice and if a tree has reached a size appropriate for the location it should then be kept at that size by way of small pruning cuts of any overextending growth whenever the tree is looking to increase in size (right tree right place obviously gets a look in here). Unhelpfully lots of property owners let a tree grow much larger than the ideal or move to a property where trees are bigger than they wish and therefore are forced or choose to have more major work done to a tree, while still trying to maintain it.

Maybe felling would be a better option for the future of the site but also unhelpfully we humans grow old and die much faster than most trees and we find larger trees (generally) more impressive and aesthetically pleasing and so don't see replanting a small tree a good option, maybe if an oak reached maturity in five years and stayed healthy for 600 then felling and replanting would be undertaken more often!

As for pollards keeping us in work, absolutely they do! and we have to maintain our tree stock here in Europe but I dont see the need to do first pollards anymore as treework in this country has come on in the near past and there are enough skilled climbers to be able to do work on trees which doesn't lead to reactive growth and there is enough money spent on council contracts to maintain trees properly. I find repollarding repetitive and uninteresting and maybe my time would be better spent rebuilding the countries rail network, saving the rainforest, carving something or even having a rant on arbtalk......

 

(if people are confused by my views i think that street trees should not be pollarded anymore and work done on privately owned trees should be decided by the arborist after considering all influencing factors, tree health, owners needs, targets etc)