Will it survive?

[willjones]

Today we had to reduce an oak,it's had work done on it before, for various health n safety reasons.This time round the tree officer wanted us to reduce down to 30 ft,this involved taking off massive limbs,leaving big wounds.there's still some canopy that will be left,but not much,I was wondering what anyone thinks will happen to this amazing tree.as you can see we have made a start in the photo.

[treecreeper arb]

There are so many factors relating to its possible survival,that in my opinion it is impossible to say with the information you have given.

If the tree is in perfect health,within optimum growing conditions then it may well do.Given that it appears to be a mature pollard that is lapsed(hard to tell for sure,but likely?)it seems a pretty harsh spec,and could well contribute towards early decline.

Id be interested to know the TOs reasoning behind such a heavy reduction.

As I said..so many factors involved.

[willjones]

The oak had had 3 reductions over the last 7 years.basically a limb snapped out n hit a chap on the head.its growing in a sewage treatment works and has a chicken run all around the base,it does have a rather large cavity at the base,don't have a clue to the extent of the decay.its about 60ft,so almost cutting it in half.

[treecreeper arb]

Ha!..well it wont be short of nutrients then!!

Basically,No one can tell you that it will or wont survive,But IMO a reduction this dramatic on an mature oak is likely to shorten its life span significantly.

There are others on here with far more knowledge than I,but whatever anyone says,removing such large reserves of energy from this kind of tree in our current pathogen riddled environment aint a good thing!!Hope im wrong though,and it outlives us all!

[A Pettersen-Firewood&Chip]

Unfortunately sounds like the best thing to do is to remove the Oak as it has out grown its area. Or it will just be stressed until it succumbs to failure. Replace it with a younger tree that is managed correctly (formerly pruned).

 

I would imagine seeing how it has been reduced before it will come back after your round of reduction.

[treeseer]

"Given that it appears to be a mature pollard that is lapsed(hard to tell for sure,but likely?)it seems a pretty harsh spec,and could well contribute towards early decline.

Id be interested to know the TOs reasoning behind such a heavy reduction."

 

+1

 

A limb snapped off, so the whole tree gets whacked in half? Your concern about big wounds is well taken--rot and starvation will not make that tree any safer.