speach less!

[Le Sanglier]

high regrowth points from topping wounds... very weak unions, no great anchor points or rigging points, looks like a right pain in the arse to get a MEWP near them without causing major road/traffic interference. (7.2 million visitors and all that). lots of well maintained grass shrub beds ect under them I imagine and a grade 2 listed wall in a conservation area, and a a strategic route, probably a friends group chained to the base and a load of doo gooders asking why are you killing the trees... also a whole load of epicorimic growth all over the buggers... anything else????

 

Mewp, traffic lights....anyway someone has just managed it!

[Dean Lofthouse]

I realise that by not extolling the virtues the High Church of tree management I might be perceived as a heretic but I find the Orwellian dogma of "pollarding good, topping bad" too simplistic and plain dumb.

 

Even in an extremely high footfall area with students sat under the trees most days eating lunch.

 

Your right, to not consider that is just plain dumb bordering on neglegent

[Le Sanglier]

They've been done/topped before, apparently, and yet the streets are not littered with squashed students, how did that happen?

[Dean Lofthouse]

They've been done/topped before, apparently, and yet the streets are not littered with squashed students, how did that happen?

 

Are you trying to tell me no-one has been killed from a branch failing.

 

Is topping bad practice ?

 

Would pollarding (originally ) have been a better option ?

 

Would you rather see those street trees as beautiful pollard as you see where you are or would you rather see hat racks full of epicormic ?

 

This ?

 

 

Or this ?

 

 

One takes skill and knowledge, the other doesn't.

[Le Sanglier]

The first picture is of repeatedly trained Planes the second is I think a heavily reduced Chestnut there is no comparison. Maybe it had a completely dead top I dunno. Looks crap atm I'll give you that, Need a back story really.

Re-pollarding as re the picture you have put there, which to my mind, at least at that scale, borders on pleaching, looks great, and it would be good to see it in the UK more often.

Out here the formation and trimming work is done by cantonniers or council workers, small cherry picker, and 4 blokes, no skill or knowledge required (certainly not by an elageur/grimper) although I have seen in the early stages some councils use Pros on the formation of Planes.

Is topping bad practice? the big one, well I would want a concise definition of what that means exactly before committing Arbtalk suicide it is in the word really, If a client wanted a lombardy Pop reduced in height is that topping? It comes back to a point I made earlier about treating different species of trees the same, does not make any sense.

Mick

Edited April 26, 2012 by Le Sanglier
grammer or grammar can never remember

[High Scale]

The first picture is of repeatedly trained Planes the second is I think a heavily reduced Chestnut there is no comparison. Maybe it had a completely dead top I dunno. Looks crap atm I'll give you that, Need a back story really.

Re-pollarding as re the picture you have put there, which to my mind, at least at that scale, borders on pleaching, looks great, and it would be good to see it in the UK more often.

Out here the formation and trimming work is done by cantonniers or council workers, small cherry picker, and 4 blokes, no skill or knowledge required (certainly not by an elageur/grimper) although I have seen in the early stages some councils use Pros on the formation of Planes.

Is topping bad practice? the big one, well I would want a concise definition of what that means exactly before committing Arbtalk suicide it is in the word really, If a client wanted a lombardy Pop reduced in height is that topping? It comes back to a point I made earlier about treating different species of trees the same, does not make any sense.

Mick

 

Like.

[Dean Lofthouse]

This is getting school ground.

 

I too want to see pollarding in the uk rather than mutilated trees. These should have been taken down an replaced with maple which then should have been allowed to grow then made into street pollards, if the size of the original trees was a problem to the uni

 

Let's go back to the beginning and not try to defend topping

 

Why was the work carried out ?

 

Because the trees were inspected by a consultant who found extensive rot pockets and decay.

 

Why would he recommend reducing back to previous ?

 

Because there was a risk of branch failure due to rot pockets and decay.

 

what do you think caused the rot pockets and decay and why do you think the trees at the opposite side of the street do not have rot pocket or decay ?

 

Because these trees had been topped in the past and the opposite side of the street haven,t. The rot pockets have formed at the topping cut sites.

 

Why are the trees on the other side of the road still perfectly healthy and probably only require routine deadwooding and maintainance?

 

Because they haven,t been topped in the past.

 

The only reason I have brought pollarding into the conversation is because it was suggested that these trees have been pollarded....they haven't, they,ve been topped......my argument is there's a big difference.

 

I couldn't give a toss if people go round topping every tree they come across really, just don't try and pass it off as pollarding, it isn,t.

 

The good thing is now with all the litigation is that every branch failure that involves serious injury or death is investigated. So hopefully in future bad pruning practice will come back and bite a few asses, people may be walking off with cheques to pay there mortgages, but they can't walk away from their liabilities

 

Here,s to litigation

[Le Sanglier]

School ground? really? How so?

 

Anyway I would like your definition of Topping.

 

Please.

[Pedroski]

I don't see why future management would be particularly difficult. There are only a few trees there now, all on the university land back from the pavement. Could access with a climber or a MEWP from university grounds, surely. I think the problem is being over-exaggerated a bit to make a point, maybe?

[Dean Lofthouse]

School ground? really? How so?

 

Anyway I would like your definition of Topping.

 

Please.

 

Now we,re getting even more school ground

 

See my post above