To Crown Reduce or not Veteran Sweet Chestnut

[benedmonds]

Got a nice veteran Sweet Chestnut, it's doing fine and the owner wants it to stay, do you think it's worth reducing prevent it breaking out in the future or should it be left well alone?

[Lee Winger]

The tree would say leave me alone if it could speak!

[MattyF]

I would be inclined to drop the right side in a bit to balance it up and maybe it might evan encourage a bit more growth lower in the canopy but i would not wanna do anything to drastic

[Peter]

So hard to tell just from a pic. I think you only get the full picture from walking round it and getting an idea of the weight distribution etc.

However, I also think that when dealing with veteran trees as little as possible is usually the best!

[treediver]

Id be inclined not to touch it. Cutting into a veteran tree is basically wounding and opening it up to decay and disease blah blah blah etc.

Looks like its been growing quite happily without someone slapping a 25 percenter on it....

[TheTreeWiseMen]

Install a support cable?

[cerneARB]

I would leave it..maybe get rid of some dead decaying branches. The energy dynamics of older trees is not as high as younger ones and i think they cope less well with reductions and reactions to stress. leave the old girl if there is no hazard or target.

[MattyF]

Id be inclined not to touch it. Cutting into a veteran tree is basically wounding and opening it up to decay and disease blah blah blah etc.

Looks like its been growing quite happily without someone slapping a 25 percenter on it....

 

i wouldnt want to do a 25 % on it just a 5% on that top corner just so i got an excuse to climb it and workon an interesting tree!

or pollard it!

[Marc]

Fell it!! its a danger to everyone who gets near it, i mean look at those burrs that can't be safe. If she can't bear to lose it, dome it off, give it a nice high pollard, bog brush it.

 

Otherwise, I go with the consensus of do the least to it that you can:

Enough to keep the customer happy that there trees been cared for.

Do as little so as not to stress the tree.

And charge a lot for your professional services.

[High Scale]

Paint it yellow?