Opinions/options?

[benedmonds]

This was the beech that nearly dropped a limb of one of my guys while hedge cutting earlier in the week. The limb that failed obviously had issues, however the concern is now the for the 12inch horizontal limb that reaches over the play area (they have 240 kids there on Tuesday..). The limb has no obvious defects but the tree now has history..

Option 1. do nothing

Option 2. remove limb

Option 3. reduce/end weight limb

Option 4. install cable brace to catch limb in the unlikely event of it failing..

[Adam M]

Can't fully make out as on phone, but perhaps thin the end of the branch out to preserve the form and reduce the weight?

[Marc]

Fell and replant, hard to make out on my phone. But there is an exsisting cavity which could be host chicken of the woods, or dryads saddle.

Also the lowest limb looks like a compression limb and therefore not the greatest of attachments. 240 kids there on Tuesday playing near underneath? So high target risk.

 

Why bother to retain?

[Graham]

Fell and replant, hard to make out on my phone. But there is an exsisting cavity which could be host chicken of the woods, or dryads saddle.

Also the lowest limb looks like a compression limb and therefore not the greatest of attachments. 240 kids there on Tuesday playing near underneath? So high target risk.

 

Why bother to retain?

 

Maybe because it's a big living thing that can't be replaced:001_smile:

[sloth]

Hard to see in pics. Certainly worth retaining if desired, a tree like that cannot simply be replaced unless you have a spare couple of hundred years!

240 kids on Tuesday - is that a one off? What about cordoning/fencing off the area?

In the long run a reduction would probably be beneficial I reckon.

Chicken of the woods highly unlikely on beech, looks more like a straightforward weak fork failure from here.

Where abouts are you? If your client is worried about liability issues I could come and have a look, and if appropriate write a report with recommendations at a very reduced rate, rather than see another irreplaceable mature tree lost to a knee jerk reaction.

Kevin

 

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[Andrew Gale]

The branch looks longer than the remaining crown above; if possible reduce end weight and brace.

 

Crown doesn't look to equipped (in terms of suitable anchor points) for bracing so the choice of location, size and material will be important.

 

I don't think thinning will help much as the weight is in the timber not the foliage I would imagine.

 

The other option, albeit a rather drastic one, would be to remove the limb whilst leaving a long stub section; not pretty but at least the weight has gone and no large wound at source.

[Marc]

Hard to see in pics. Certainly worth retaining if desired, a tree like that cannot simply be replaced unless you have a spare couple of hundred years!

240 kids on Tuesday - is that a one off? What about cordoning/fencing off the area?

In the long run a reduction would probably be beneficial I reckon.

Chicken of the woods highly unlikely on beech, looks more like a straightforward weak fork failure from here.

Where abouts are you? If your client is worried about liability issues I could come and have a look, and if appropriate write a report with recommendations at a very reduced rate, rather than see another irreplaceable mature tree lost to a knee jerk reaction.

Kevin

 

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I can assure you Chicken of the woods is not highly unlikely on Beech, but probably not an issue with this tree more of a cautionary are there any other issues present with this tree.

I am highly un-qualified in this area, but have a little experience dealing with mature trees. We also go further than most to retain mature trees where ever possible, and as for planting I doubt many here have carried out as many replacement tree planting projects in the urban environment as us!

 

But sometimes you have to be pragmatic in approach to mature urban trees we can not always be sentimental and occasionally the reality is fell and replace is the wiser option.

Now I can see the pics more clearly I can see there is what looks like other compression forks present, let's also consider the altered dynamics of the tree, limbs often act in unison to absorb and dampen loads, the loss of the major limb will of affected this.

Complete removal of the other limb would probably only cause further problems and stress to the tree. If retention of the tree is a high priority then I suggest trying to rebalance the crown as sympathetically as possible, trees need to move so heavy reductions can potentially cause further problems with root to shoot ratios and all that jazz, not to mention the stress increasing the chance of the trees ability to deal with pathogens.

 

If the targets can be moved great, I know David Humpries is big into this.

 

I do not want to see another living monument given the chop I am just trying to be realistic and all options must be considered Even fell and replant.

[Philip Anderson]

Maybe because it's a big living thing that can't be replaced:001_smile:

 

Of course it can be replaced , after all it was planted by somebody 150 + years ago maybe to replace something else that was there before!that's succession .

It proberably doesn't need to be yet but don't exclude fell and replant as an option.

[Marc]

What's the saying? "Greatest is the man who plants a tree whose shade he will never feel"

 

Protecting living monuments is a priority, but so is replacing the many we lose for future generations to enjoy, the cycle of life and all that.

[Graham]

Of course it can be replaced , after all it was planted by somebody 150 + years ago maybe to replace something else that was there before!that's succession .

It proberably doesn't need to be yet but don't exclude fell and replant as an option.

 

I'm not excluding fell and replant. Better to retain and plant some more as well.