Big oak. Responsibility.

[combined tree services]

some of the above my clarify thisng a little but i will endevour to find a specific case that i remember reading about

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

a tree is in a state of constant adaption and wants to conform to the axiom of uniform stress, it is this which enables a tree to attain both bulk AND lightness. It is neither too strong, nor too light, like all things in anture, bones plants ect it is around 4-5 times a strong as it NEEDS to be, like your legs need to be strong enough to jump and run from a predator, a tree must withstand gusts of wind. allliving things must achieve the balance, and being 4-5 times stronger than the minimum ensures we all are as light as possible, without being prone to injury, be we a tree or a horse or a man, we are all built to the same laws of existence.

 

upset the balance, disrupt the axiom and you have altered the status quo, and WILL be to blame for failures that result from the actions.

[skyhuck]

I would still be interested in reading an account of a contractor that has been prosecuted for the failure of a tree he pruned.

 

I can only speak from my own experience. I have in my garden two large Sycamores, that many years ago some one took one side of both (to allow more sun in) they have both been fine.

 

In my line clearance days I worked on some huge trees that had had one side completely removed.

 

I think trees are much stronger and more adaptable than most give them credit for.

 

I would and have refused to mutilate large boundary trees, but not for safety reasons.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Yes, most of the time "we" get away with it, but what if?

 

as the trees age and start to lose parts to decay (within the butt this may occur for eons before noticed externally) then perhaps, due to the lop sided wieght distribution, even the most minor modifications via fungi of the tension roots the tree fails.

 

I would attribute the lop sided nature as the primer and NOT the minor decay which under normal conditions the tree would have survived.

[skyhuck]

But Tony, a strong wind will find that weakness long before any unbalance in the crown.

 

Trees in a very sheltered situation are different, but generally trees cope with massive loading in high winds.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

But Tony, a strong wind will find that weakness long before any unbalance in the crown.

 

Trees in a very sheltered situation are different, but generally trees cope with massive loading in high winds.

 

yes they do, but why force them to stand permantly with a bucket of concrete in one hand, and nowt in the other:001_huh:

[skyhuck]

yes they do, but why force them to stand permantly with a bucket of concrete in one hand, and nowt in the other:001_huh:

 

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

 

You can laugh, but seriously, consider the mechanics:thumbdown:

[combined tree services]

I will contact Jack at merrist wood tomorrow and see if he would be so kind to forward me some examples of such cases in which he has has to stand as exper witness .

 

I hear what you saying huck but truth is that if you were to cut one side off of a boundary tree and it does fail with the most dire circustances being that some is killed do you honestly think that the owners legal team will not knock on your door ?

 

Im pretty sure if it was one of ust that this happened too we would all be out to see the culpret in court for knowingly imballence a tree thus aiding it the trees failing ,

 

It does not have to be that the tree fails purely because the tree has been cut back to the boundary and a gale of wind blows it over , there could be many more contributing factore that have not been considdered . For example the tree has a large pocket of decay on the other sider of the boundary that you had not seen because you did not have access to the owners property , the person your working for had some construction works carried out a year or so ago to build a new garden wall ttand the roots were dammaged in the process by the building contractor etc etc the list of options goes on and on , i do not believe that any court in the land would look and say that it was no my falt that the tee had blown over because i had cut one side off of the tree , Be assured there are no shortage of consultants that would give evidence to prove this .

 

This may help to clarify my above rant lmao

 

Visual Tree Assessment (VTA)

A tree is a self-optimising mechanical structure (Mattheck and Breloer 1994 *). A generating system which reacts to mechanical and physiological stresses by growing more vigorously to re-enforce weak areas, while depriving less stressed parts. This precept is described by Claus Mattheck as the axiom of uniform stress. An understanding of the axiom of uniform stress allows an Arborist to make informed judgements about the condition of a tree. Claus Mattheck introduced a biomechanically based system of visual tree assessment (VTA), which uses the reactive nature of tree growth. The basis behind VTA is the identification of symptoms, which the tree produces in reaction to a weak spot, or area of mechanical stress.

 

Although, Claus Mattheck stresses the limitations of this system by saying; "We can use VTA to state to what extent a defective tree is at greater risk of breaking, compared with a completely sound one. However, since nature’s principle of lightweight structures allows a natural failure rate to occur even without defects, there can be no absolute guarantee of safety." It is essential that any arborist using VTA has a broad range of experience of different tree species, as individuals and in groups, to enable them to make informed and reasoned decisions about ‘tree safety’.

[treequip]

if you were to cut one side off of a boundary tree and it does fail with the most dire circustances being that some is killed do you honestly think that the owners legal team will not knock on your door ?

 

 

That’s going to depend on how you handled the matter.

 

You have a common law right to abate the nuisance, the tree has no right to trespass so that’s simple cut the branch off. You also have a duty of care to others so we need to look at the merits of these conflicting common law rights.

 

If a tree can’t survive without using resources to which it is not entitled, clearly its survival is in question.

 

I think the right to abate trumps the duty of care but the situation needs handling with care. If you intend to do the kind of severe pruning it would be prudent to inform the owner of the tree to allow them to get an expert opinion on the condition of the tree.

 

Such a caveat would insulate you from any future litigation.

 

Andy