Last Beech Standing

[MattyF]

Any tree with a white rot is especially in the roots can not be considered as safe...im interested in there could be 2 different types of pathogen with one more deadly ,but im sorry i think peoples sentimental attachment to beach and its one of my favourite trees as well clouds judgment as to what we are really dealing with here...

In the end whats this all achieved ....a badly mutilated tree with a lot of money spent on it or an interesting case study??

Untill science proves other wise i will be recomending a fell unless the client wants to try and retain but im not going to make out having a white rot on the root system is not a serious risk!

In the mean while im intersested to see how long this tree lasts as its making an interesting study.

keep up the good work guys

[treequip]

Haha, mate you've got more chance seriously injuring yourself picking your nose than you have , by a beech with merrip...

 

So they don't fall over

 

I picked this one out of the river not my nose

 

 

 

Andy

[David Humphries]

I picked this one out of the river not my nose

 

 

 

Andy

 

 

 

Andy, great post thank you

 

out of interest, the tree is quite obviously without leaf, but do you know what the wind force was like when this tree failed?

 

 

 

 

 

.

[David Humphries]

In the mean while im intersested to see how long this tree lasts as its making an interesting study.

 

10 years standing with evidence of Meripilus,

four of those years topped.

 

 

 

No perceived vascular deteriation and yes, while there is some evidence of white rot present, I think the inference being made and missed here is the adaptive response the Tree is making to the presence of Merip and how aparantly healthy and sound, that this particular part of the tree is.

 

 

 

.

[treequip]

So they don't fall over

 

Andy, great post thank you

 

out of interest, the tree is quite obviously without leaf, but do you know what the wind force was like when this tree failed?

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

I had known the tree and had walked past it on a pretty much daily basis for a number of years. That autumn there was a bit of M. sporaphore around the base but not extensive.

 

I noted it but wasn’t particularly alarmed since I hadn’t seen any die back, indeed the tree was in rude health.

2 days later she fell in the river. It was a grim and rainy night but not overly blowy.

 

It just goes to show that the presence of sporaphores isn’t much to go on.

 

For the fell or not question, I am a pragmatist and agree with Huk. If you can’t remove the target you have to consider felling or at least topping. I know most of the M. I see is on private punters trees with high target values. Root investigation is great but it’s a repeat financial burden on the punter and if it’s the choice between a holiday and yet another round of investigation I think easyjet will be the winner.

 

Andy

[ecolojim]

if trees are assets and not just nuisances then why are we not seeking to increase our assets more readily rather than just hanging onto the ones we've got perhaps sometimes a little irrationally (not saying that's the case here).

 

From what Ive seen, and im certainly no expert, I would have had that beech down in a jiffy. I would have also planted at least 4 for the loss of one. Its all very well and good maintaining that one, but its life IMO is now very finite, and has begun to give early warning signs of weakness which is surely primary to failure.

I would have removed it and planted more for generations to come to enjoy. I dont believe that tree will be there a whole lot longer. Id love to be wrong though!

 

in the wider scheme of things, we always seem to wait until a tree is on the deck before replanting, but life is cyclic, and so should our planting habits

[Dean Lofthouse]

The real problem is the fact that we have such limited stocks of mature trees, due to decades of under planting, so we tend to hang on to over mature trees .

 

Top marks that man

[Bundle 2]

Its all good I reckon........

Meripilusmonograph.pdf

[Dean Lofthouse]

For the fell or not question, I am a pragmatist and agree with Huk. If you can’t remove the target you have to consider felling or at least topping. I know most of the M. I see is on private punters trees with high target values. Root investigation is great but it’s a repeat financial burden on the punter and if it’s the choice between a holiday and yet another round of investigation I think easyjet will be the winner.

 

Andy

 

What we also have to consider is the liability side of the equation.

 

For example, you carry out all these investigations and recommmend topping (in itself bad practice from my point of veiw) and the tree falls over, kills someone or smashes an house to smitherines.

 

The insurance gets involved, an investigation is undertaken and without scientific study (which should in the mean time be carried out on trees not within a high risk area) where would the blame lie and would any neglegence be attched to studies being carried out within a high target area

 

Just a thought

[David Humphries]

if trees are assets and not just nuisances then why are we not seeking to increase our assets more readily rather than just hanging onto the ones we've got perhaps sometimes a little irrationally (not saying that's the case here).

 

From what Ive seen, and im certainly no expert, I would have had that beech down in a jiffy. I would have also planted at least 4 for the loss of one. Its all very well and good maintaining that one, but its life IMO is now very finite, and has begun to give early warning signs of weakness which is surely primary to failure.

I would have removed it and planted more for generations to come to enjoy. I dont believe that tree will be there a whole lot longer. Id love to be wrong though!

 

in the wider scheme of things, we always seem to wait until a tree is on the deck before replanting, but life is cyclic, and so should our planting habits

 

 

What you can hopefuilly see from this picture is the replanting scheme which is long term and started back in 1988 to replace the lost specimens.

 

 

 

.