Chalara fraxinea - Generic thread

[markieg31]

It amazes me that LA, to my knowlage, doing anything to notify home owners and landowner about the risk of die back. I have knocked on a few doors and caught a few people to notify them that the big tree over the house has die back. I just tell them to get a tree surgeon to look at it as i dont like cold calling but i almost feel like i have a duty of care!

[Gary Prentice]

32 minutes ago, markieg31 said:

It amazes me that LA, to my knowlage, doing anything to notify home owners and landowner about the risk of die back. I have knocked on a few doors and caught a few people to notify them that the big tree over the house has die back. I just tell them to get a tree surgeon to look at it as i dont like cold calling but i almost feel like i have a duty of care!

I think that the rapidity at which it's spread has caught some LAs with their trousers down. At least that's my experience locally. None of the Manchester area authorities are doing anything yet to advise private owners on their websites. My own local tree officer asked me to report to him any particularly bad trees, private or their own, which could pose a hazard to the highway. They're trying to evaluate their own stock asap because previous highway inspections were zoned on highway usage, a residential street might only be inspected every four to five years but the speed at which this is spreading through the crown, at least  here this year, means that the more or less need to look at all highway ash this year. 

 

You can sort of understand why no-one is spending time and/or money on advising the public. Maybe everyone arb contractor should be adding something themselves to their own websites to publicise the problem!

[Paul Cleaver]

I will be shortly survey trees railside mainly in the South. I expect I will be quite busy. I am expecting some areas where "clumps" (for want of a better word),  of ash trees may need felling. If this is the case I will have to determine whether immediate replanting should take place on banked areas to avoid landslip!

[Pete Mctree]

On 22/09/2019 at 08:17, AA Teccie (Paul) said:

Absolutely (re using a MEWP where cannot use a machine nor fell at ground level) and our ‘pending’ guidance aimed primarily at dismantling works states such.

cheers

Paul 

Do you have any further details on this guidance? And is it relatable to dealing with hazard trees in general?

i have already heard stories about rigging point failures where climbers have used rigging blocks & the resultant forces have ripped the tree apart.

When I started in Arb, we were rigging out the last of the elm trees we used natural crotch rigging as there were few other options. This simple method helped massively reduce the forces generated at the rigging point. This has to be our end goal either through friction or load sharing redirects- either way we need to rapidly and radically reassess how we approach these rigging scenarios, as It is OK having all the toys, but a deficit in knowledge & or the skills to apply it will no doubt result in fatalities rigging out these hazard trees sooner or later.

[Wonky]

Just to add a completely new dimension into the mix, I came across this for the first time today.

The background story is. 

I was asked to plant several types of Ash from various parts of the world as a controlled experiment to monitor species resilience to ADB on an FC site known to have ADB present.

I have been monitoring them for the last 5 years, until now, all good.

Today I inspected some of the Syrian Ash, as I approached I noticed the dreaded tell tale sign, die back of the crowns resembling hedgerow trees.

What I found surprised me and I have never seen it in 26 years of Forestry. These are native Hornets completely ring barking  and stripping bark causing the tips to die back, anyone seen this habit before, and why only the Ash?

 

 

I think the answer is either they are chewing it for the wood fibres for their nest, or they are being resourceful and taking the sugary sap from a wound made by somthing else.

 

When I did my cs39. It was at the end of the summer and the assessor in his risk assessment said wasps in the tree. My reply was if they are the big from down here, then there hornets.

However, he said there are only a few. Are you ok to go up there.

 

I said yeh they aren’t interested in me.. after bouncing the branches about. The hornets were gathering up as they could not land.. when I lifted my ear defenders up. There was a loud humming.

I was asked if they were bothering me, I replied no they are just trying to land. But if they do hassle me I will come straight down.

[markieg31]

Do you have any further details on this guidance? And is it relatable to dealing with hazard trees in general?
i have already heard stories about rigging point failures where climbers have used rigging blocks & the resultant forces have ripped the tree apart.
When I started in Arb, we were rigging out the last of the elm trees we used natural crotch rigging as there were few other options. This simple method helped massively reduce the forces generated at the rigging point. This has to be our end goal either through friction or load sharing redirects- either way we need to rapidly and radically reassess how we approach these rigging scenarios, as It is OK having all the toys, but a deficit in knowledge & or the skills to apply it will no doubt result in fatalities rigging out these hazard trees sooner or later.

I think the main problem when rigging die back ash when compared to elm is that ash is pretty brittle to start with so that even in the early stages that is exacerbated. We are working on die back ash here in West Somerset and trees a varying a lot. Definately noticeable that even in the very early stages that when doing directional hinges in the canopy they just dont hold.
Personally i have been trying to advise land ownera to catch it early as if it progresses it can not safely be climbed and of course costs will escalate!

Absoulutly tons and tons of roadside ash that has die backbround here. Dead standing trees, even if you didnt know about die back they should have been picked up as dead and dangerous trees!

[Stere]

When I chat to  landowners  & homeowner still most seem ignorant of ash die back even though often  many of the trees on there property are dying or dead.

 

Ash is the dominant tree here as a %.

 

Find mentioning dutch elm helps them to get an idea of the impact as some remember that.

 

Maybe there should be adverts on TV pulbic information broadcasts like there used to be?

 

 

 

 

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

10 hours ago, Pete Mctree said:

Do you have any further details on this guidance? And is it relatable to dealing with hazard trees in general?

i have already heard stories about rigging point failures where climbers have used rigging blocks & the resultant forces have ripped the tree apart.

When I started in Arb, we were rigging out the last of the elm trees we used natural crotch rigging as there were few other options. This simple method helped massively reduce the forces generated at the rigging point. This has to be our end goal either through friction or load sharing redirects- either way we need to rapidly and radically reassess how we approach these rigging scenarios, as It is OK having all the toys, but a deficit in knowledge & or the skills to apply it will no doubt result in fatalities rigging out these hazard trees sooner or later.

Hi Pete, unfortunately not, it's with Head Office being branded etc.

I don't believe this guidance will cover rigging in detail other than advising not to, in general, and only at Stage 1, ie very early on.

Hope you're well,

Paul

[openspaceman]

10 hours ago, Paul Cleaver said:

I will be shortly survey trees railside mainly in the South. I expect I will be quite busy. I am expecting some areas where "clumps" (for want of a better word),  of ash trees may need felling. If this is the case I will have to determine whether immediate replanting should take place on banked areas to avoid landslip!

Sounds strange, after we felled trees, and treated stumps, on a steep chalky embankment we had to go back and pull the stumps out as they came loose several years later.

 

Remember when the railway was built there were no trees and kept that way by the deveg gangs.

[Pete Mctree]

9 minutes ago, AA Teccie (Paul) said:

Hi Pete, unfortunately not, it's with Head Office being branded etc.

I don't believe this guidance will cover rigging in detail other than advising not to, in general, and only at Stage 1, ie very early on.

Hope you're well,

Paul

I think there is some scope for further guidance in that case as this is going to be a huge issue imo.