Amelanchier

That is what I would call psuedoscientific scaremongering. It is not true.

'slope the cut leading away from the bud so when it rains the water runs away from the bud.' ??? Do buds dissolve in water or something? Thats not the real reason for the cut angle mate but i assume that, being a tree surgeon, you know that.

The fact that the trees are capable of standing, for hundreds of years, in unbalanced forms before you pop along and 'reshape' them doesn't strike you as odd? Are you trying to encourage epicormics as you prune? Have you heard of geotrophism? Light ain't the only growth modifier.

But light doesn't hit the entire canopy equally. The centre of gravity isn't always central. Most trees balance themselves. Those trees that have a hazardous asymmetrical form rarely need reshaping to that extent. Do you ever go back to your old sites and see epicormic shoots growing vertically all throughout the canopy?

I don't bother to invoice myself, though that might be a good tax dodge... Still that would only put another 30 quid on, so still half the price!

This week I have been mostly climbing on... Art Pulley £20 (Recall replacement) Art Ring £5 Key Krab £2.50 1m Tenex £2 1.5m XTC Plus £3 Total £32.50 Realising you could have done this before paying £120 for a ropeguide.... Priceless

Be aware that those AA courses are not training or educational, they are basically assessments. You won't be told how to inspect a tree, you'll be assessed on your inspections.

Some Prunus spp. get quite heavily loaded in autumn with fruit. Add a wet windy day and you'll get helical cracks like that. Plus all the fruit will blow off, the owners will clean up and leave you a little puzzle!

Good stuff sir!!! Look forward to those pics!

They always work before they break! Wrong fuel mix can kill a saw pretty quick. Its easy to do as well.

Piston rings?

Nah mate, its tha third of tha ninth, ninety-aight. Thats the date the first topping cut wos done or summat. Its all BS and that.

I wouldn't go down the chemical road, apart from it being illegal (see http://www.armillatox.co.uk/ ), you'ld need tankers of the stuff. Even then it probably wouldn't work. Good work on the target exclusion. I know I haven't seen the tree but hypothetically I'd be asking: - Whats the specific reason for the proposed reduction? Concern of windthrow? Armillaria spp. cause white rot basal decay and cambium death via active pathogenisis of it mycelium. Is there any cambial death? Any mycelium? There don't appear to be any crown symptoms. Are there any? Are there any visible symptoms of decay within the stem? Trees can tolerate fungal presence for many years and even co-exist and adapt to decay rates. Its been a good season for most fungi. A flush of toadstool may not be related to decay progression. All in all, it may be that there is no significant decay. Most white rot decay is visibly predictable from biomechanical symptoms. If you undertake a reduction, what spec. would you go to? I'd be concerned about the disruption to the energy reserves of a med-heavy job. Also the timing of the operation, when would you prune? Just playing devils advocate, its good to see great trees in safe hands! Keep up the pics.

splicetastic mate.

I think you've got a while yet. No apparent crown symptoms. White rot = typically biomechanically visible symptoms, like bulging, bottle butt blah blah blah. Move the path, leave the tree... let it have its resources for a few more years. Too heavy a red. could cause problems in the future. Keep an eye on the ol' girl.

I think it is Nutty. That would be on a Robinia though! My lit. is also pretty barren on the subject but I would assume they're not far off P. squarrosa. Nice bracket! Gano bodies have always reminded me of photos i've seen where slowing lava flows have met the sea and cooled in ridges.

But is it an Electrolux? Its the genus that really matters!!! I had a thread a couple o' months ago about it on beech. There is a link to notes on its decay mode. http://www.arbtalk.co.uk/showthread.php?t=298 So basically, not great but not the worst! Dismantle from a platform should be fine IMHO. Ailanthus is pretty hardcore, I shoudn't imagine there is a decay issue from this fungus.

That'll be Xylaria spp. mate. Probably Xylaria polymorpha. And I think that's an Electrolux Dishwasher but I could be wrong, the picture quality is a bit off...

Nice, this year i have been mostly seeing... Anyone ever seen Ganoderma add./asp. (Last pic) do that before?

Has it got CE yet? I have a lanyard of it and i luuurve it.

I've tried the demo. Basically its alright. Does what it says on the tin. You need to have access to site or base maps produced by AutoCAD. £600 for a one user licence.

We have one. Its waste if it doesn't have an "economic value". So as PeteB says, if you can prove you have a "use" for it, it ain't waste. Pretty hard to do with road sweepings...

Just seen a recent post where paulos-treebuzz-rope-sheath-bridge-renovation-idea was mentioned and it reminded my of my promise to show some pics of the mod after some climbing. Pics show almost a month of climbing about 3-4 days a week. As you can see, the shrinkwrap has begun to "ripple" where the paw hits it while pivoting. What I've found happens though is that the resistance put forward by the shrink wrap stops the paw reaching the end of the bridge most of the time. This stops the paw hitting the shackles which used to do my head in. All in all I'm very happy with it and have done the same with my other harness

Prolly not.