Oak tree reduction

[willjones]

Today we carried out a reduction on an oak,the spec from the tree officer was to reduce the crown from around 50ft to 30-35ft,to us it seemed a little harsh.the problem we had was lack of suitable growth points,if any. We pointed this out but our manger was adamant that we follow the spec to the letter.just wanted opinions on whether you would of done it this way,if you would have called TO and pointed out the problems.and any general comments on if you think it looks any good

[sloth]

I've seen (and done!) far worse. I suppose it depends in this case on the reason for the work? TPO'd? Decayed? High value targets? Work to BS3998?

If dangerous enough to need either felling or this, I'd choose this.

[mistahbenn]

Hmmmm. Growth points 1/3 of the pruning cut? At least there are growth points. Good job I say.

[Steve Bullman]

Sounds like you made the best of the spec you were given.

 

Adam Bourne would have said 'NO'

[willjones]

Reason was a little bit of everything I think,decay at the base, targets all around and in the past a large limb had failed and hit a shed when a chap was inside,he got quite abit of a whack.in regards to growth points,what if there isn't any, anywhere near the spec,what is best practice?

[High Scale]

I have a massive Oak reduction coming up and it's a difficult thing to specify a percentage reduction or even, according to BS998, a measured reduction from the ground, once you climb the tree everything can change and most/all of the time the spec will have to be tweaked in some way. even producing a picture with a drawn reduction outline can never be considered as a given to how the tree will turn out.

 

Don't stress about the work you have done to that tree.

Edited January 10, 2014 by High Scale

[Mikey b]

I was the climber on the job the tree manager that gave us the job had no concern about growth points in the spec the job was take down to 35 feet.we tried our best to leave as much growth as possible and do the job to spec.

[High Scale]

Wiltshire job?

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

Today we carried out a reduction on an oak,the spec from the tree officer was to reduce the crown from around 50ft to 30-35ft,to us it seemed a little harsh.the problem we had was lack of suitable growth points,if any. We pointed this out but our manger was adamant that we follow the spec to the letter.just wanted opinions on whether you would of done it this way,if you would have called TO and pointed out the problems.and any general comments on if you think it looks any good[ATTACH]145753[/ATTACH]

 

My view is, that whilst there has to be an acceptance that this sort of work will be required (probably, said a little bit through gritted teeth) where dictated by others, our role as professionals is to ensure they understand why it is not recommended, why it does not accord with industry standards (BS3998) AND the consequences of doing it.

 

With all due respect this work will hasten the decline of the tree in my opinion.

 

the other thing that struck me was the possibility of using natural fracture pruning, i.e. coronet cuts, to soften the visual impact.

 

Good on you for posting and making us think and please keep questioning things as it is through be challenged we learn and advance (very philosophical statement for me )

 

Cheers all..

Paul

[willjones]

Yeh Wiltshire,how'd you guess?.