Paul Barton

It's not great at detecting decay caused by Kretzchmaria deusta - i.e. tree could be more decayed that the scan shows. PICUS is often requested unnecessarily too. It's only useful for evaluating butt/stem decays, so there's no point in using it when you have a root rot present. We were asked to do a load of PICUS scans on street trees last year. I went and looked at the list of about 20 odd trees but it was only worth scanning a couple of them. How many street trees do you know that fail at the stem? Most go over because of root problems - a PICUS won't help predict that. Have you got a particular tree/situation in mind that prompted the question?

It's a useful tool sometimes, as long as you know what you are hoping to achieve and what the limitations are. You only know whether it's accurate when you fell the tree and compare the stump cross-section with the scan image!

The photos do look like Flammulina velutipes. As David has already said (which Lonsdale agrees with) it tends to be a secondary pathogen so a more detailed look at the trees is probably worthwhile. I can't say I have a lot of experience of seeing failed limbs/trees with this fungus present, and Lonsdale also says "little is known" of the type of decay. What's the 'target area' around the trees? Are they valuable in terms of visual amenity? Perhaps a heavy reduction to remove the affected parts would be a way forward?

This did make me chuckle, but it's not much help to the OP is it?!

Talisker and Oban for me. Find Laphroaig and the other smoky ones a bit too much. Neat or with a splash of water. I don't think it's sacrilege to add a bit of water - it can help bring out the flavours.

Consultancy manager. Only for another coupla weeks though.

I can appreciate that working on street trees in London is a difficult one, but to say that the cyclist is at fault is UNBELIEVABLE!! Do you honestly think that if he had been caught on the head by that branch, any judge would rule that the road use was at fault? He was outside the work zone. He hadn't been asked to stop by the groundsman. It doesn't matter where you're working - public safety has to be the top priority. Of course there are numpties that walk through cones, dip under barrier tape etc...but this video just shows poor practice. I'd imagine the contractor must be pretty red-faced about this appearing on the internet. Just goes to show that you can't cut corners and hope you'll get away with it - not with big brother patrolling the streets with headcams!!

Suggest installing a large owl-scarecrow in the tree.

You should read guidance from the Env Agency before lighting any big bonfires. http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Business/D7_exemption.pdf

Absolutely - you are informing him that your price is going up! (easy to say, I know!)

Why would they?! It's a radio entertainment program that specialises in the extremes of any situation to provide laughter and outrage in equal measures. I used to find it annoying but now I think it's quite amusing - kind of like a middle-class Jeremy Kyle show on the radio.

You've prompted a lively debate on UKTC about this. (again!!)

There's definitely a need for this kind of course. My experience is that many tree surgery companies fall down on presenting themselves and good communication with clients.

If you are really self-employed you would do well to spread yourself around to some more local companies. Approach some with a better day rate and see how it goes. Once someone else is paying more you have a better position to ask your current "employer" for a rise. But overall I echo Steve's initial comment - £60 before tax and expenses is not a living wage.

In the bargain basement at Amazon at the moment:confused1: [ame=http://www.amazon.co.uk/roots-built-environment-Research-amenity/dp/0117536202/ref=sr_1_18?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358803917&sr=1-18]Tree roots in the built environment Research for amenity trees: Amazon.co.uk: John Roberts, Great BritainDepartment for Communities and Local Government, Nick Jackson: Books[/ame]

Sounds like topping to me. Repeated topping.

That's nice. Was it very easy?

Lets see it then!

Nice! Got a warm bag and a decent mat to go in it?

Assuming your RPA is plotted as a circle centred around the tree, your RPA has a radius of 12m from the stem, right? Therefore, if the proposed extension encroaches 3m inside the RPA, there is still a 9m distance between the tree and the extension. Whether or not breaking ground to investigate the presence of roots is needed will depend on the site conditions - if the ground conditions are broadly similar all around the tree then it would be sensible to assume, using the BS RPA calculations that roots will be present. That far from the tree they are most likely to be small diameter/fibrous roots rather than anything of a size that would affect the anchorage of the tree (although fibrous roots do assist with anchorage). An air-spade excavation along the line of the proposed footprint would quickly tell you what quantity and size of roots are present - with the least possible damage to roots assuming the tool is used correctly. However, given the expense of such equipment with operators, a careful hand-dig should suffice. I would have thought a depth of 30cm will tell you enough, but bear in mind that soil conditions play a major factor in rooting depth. In a compacted soil roots tend to head towards the surface where water and air are most readily available but in a loose texture free draining soil they will often be deeper. Other options to think about - could a mini pile and voided raft system be used for the foundations so that root damage is minimised? Is it justifiable to alter the shape of the RPA of the tree? Is the soil a shrinkable clay - how may this affect foundation depth? If it is a shrinkable clay this is another reason to use a pile and raft system....

Thanks for your valuable contribution Kieran!

Interesting survey - hope it goes well.

Acorn Environmental Management Group have a vacancy for a consultancy manager based in Redditch. The job involves: providing a range of arb consultancy services managing arb surveyors quoting and assisting in bid writing for new work contract performance monitoring client liaison ...and more... Acorn are based in Redditch (West Mids) but have survey contracts further afield so some travel is involved. A company vehicle is provided. There is lots of great kit to use for the job - GPS/GIS equipment and software for surveys, AutoCAD for producing professional plans, an air-spade for root investigation....it's a fun and varied role. If you are interested in finding out more please email the managing director, Kevin O'Rourke, at [email protected] for a job description and application form. Alternatively you can submit a CV to the above email address or call 0800 093 3898 for an informal chat about the role.

I work for a company based in Birmingham - we have contracts in Sheffield and Peterborough. It seems odd, but we employ local staff in both areas.

That's competitive tendering for you.