treeseer

What a grim way to assess natural assets; one look at an image and call for the chop. the tarmac makes it a clean place to play, anyway!

Kevin if you squint at the 3rd pic you might see not 2, but 3 locations where grafting is taking place. I'll try to get closeup pics, and demo the tracing.

"Scabby"? That's a new entry into the arborphobic lexicon. Kids play there, so...they prefer no trees around? Quite the contrary, methinks.

Center stem is getting squeezed out. Reduce it as it declines. At the base, the decay is in the sinus; buttresses look more solid. “Those black droplets are coming out of ‘bleeding lesions.’ It looks like a soil-borne organism, such as Phytophthora sp., is colonizing the phloem tissues under the bark. These lesions are typically not a structural concern, unless interior decay is near the surface. This pest should be managed with IPM treatments aimed at compartmentalization.” I flipped through pages 354–367 of my book on diseases. “‘Remove soil from stem tissue, dry the area, deeply aerate nearby soil, clean and heat the lesions, and amend the soil with calcium fertilizer and beneficial microorganisms to help speed compartmentalization.’”

Right, plenty. There's no reason half that tarmac can't come up.

Kevin, columns are functional vertical segments of the tree connecting leaves and roots. The two I speak of are on either side of the cavity. Instead of forming a 'rams horn', they are grafting where they meet. i'm inclined to try some bark tracing to speed this grafting. David Lonsdale I believe referred to these as 'segments' in a recent article in AA. The importance of following these vascular and supporting these connections is why the A300 has them high on the list of features to inspect for: “83.3.4 Inspection should include…: Conditions in the crown that may reflect root conditions; Stem tissue connecting the crown and the roots; Girdling of buttress roots or stems by roots or foreign objects, and the tree’s response; Tree association with beneficial and harmful insects; Tree association with pathogenic and beneficial microorganisms (e.g. mycorrhizae); Wounds, and the tree’s response to wounds; Mechanical damage to detectable roots, and response; Indications of root disease and response, and Graft unions in grafted trees;”

Here's a Quercus alba, Armillaria conks and mycelia rolling through the middle. Got the call to refer a removal company. Wound up selling 1.5 hours root collar work and 2 hrs pruning. Told them the work was good for 10 years. Got paid in cash and got a nice dinner as well. Columns grafting across the hollow in 2 locations. The fungus appears to be in scavenger mode; sapwood is largely intact. Fungi are considered beneficial associates, unless and until pathogenicity is demonstrated. Pruned some girdling roots (the white root was from the nearby ash) and redirected others (buried and held down by bricks). Got my tie-in point on the 2nd shot with the slingshot. While ascending, i noted that the branch my rope was around was long dead. Sobering. I'll get an after shot of the crown soon.

Seems like, but is it? Does BS5837 advise improving soil around the protected roots, to boost their function? A vital step, increasing resources.

I like benches under trunks; that way I can lean my head back and appreciate the architecture. Compaction from feet on mulched areas is really minimal. But yes the box is ticked. The root with hack marks is so vital to structure--happy to see the tree grow over those. David, considering the underground chemistry, companion planting seems like it might be beneficial for the tree, at least in the area where roots have rotted. Is that grass or what growing at the root? Mulch looks rather deep, and close on the stem. Any fung on this one? O and I love what you've done with your avatar!

" the morphology and disposition of the roots,..." If this translates into the form and location of the roots then jolly good. Use a trowel and probe to locate roots, and proceed to protect them. No need to protect dirt with no roots, or 100% of any tree's roots, just because of soy stains on shredded cellulose. As with assessing interior wood decay, formulas might be useful, but direct physical evidence is the gold standard of data. This seems to fit all sites, not just those that are influenced by past or existing disturbance.

You guys are a trip. 2nd pic shows photosynthetic resources pushing back, upper right. But still ~40% of circ seems lost. 2nd pic lower I wonder if associate plantings have been considered for rotted-out areas. Maybe a vine or shrub started under the crack might benefit the tree, and itself? Maybe bring in a healthy associate like Vacccinium that was growing near a healthy 5th pic: was a machete used on an unappreciated vine in the past? Cracking good job on the reduction: reestablished symmetry, cuts made to concentrations of vitality aka nodes. Reading the tree's instructions: But I'm not sure that moving the bench was not a bit overdone. Seriously, what is likely to fail, where?

Surely, unless we have a big S on our chest, we cannot see inside the tree, to surely predict the likely rate of any natural radial response growth. But yes expectations here would not be high. Closure can be complete when the damage is fresh. This bark loss looks related to the loss of 2 big branches above. If they were healthy, they nourished that side of the trunk before some arborist took them away. Now that area is starving, dessicating. It could be also that the branches, and that area below the wounds made by a saw, died due to root issues. The chicken or the egg; which came first? This data might inform predictions. Or maybe the truck that delivered the trampoline crushed the roots, bashed into the trunk, and broke the branches!

Scrape off dead material and cover with black rubber to encourage new callus growth from phloem tissue and wood rays. Nothing to lose...

Agree this is not a fierce pathogen; can coexist with tree for decades.

Looking in we all see there is decay. But the amount of woundwood far exceeds in strength gain, what the decay costs in strength loss. How can the potential negatives overwhelm the obvious positives? Stinking thinking imo. white lines yes that is very optimistic, to think they will do any good!

Good news on the inner crown!, and yes it's best not to be strict on lengths or cut sizes. Giving a range may be easier to communicate. The option to fell is so clear-cut haha that it's much easier to communicate. So felling often is unintentionally overemphasised as more logical, even though pruning retains tree value, and avoids increasing the risk to adjacent trees.

Good wall behind that 26 cm colonised area. I share Nick's question about basal info--is 50 cm the typical height sampled? When using a tomograph I typically start at the base. Maybe more resi sampling at the base is avoided because it could assist colonisation unintentionally?

Barnel is made in Oz; good stuff. Barnel.com: Professional Pole Pruners/Saws/Accessories from Barnel USA

Seeing the quality of this work is very inspiring! Could you please post the Resi strips? We have had some overreactions to blips and bumps, and questions about shell walls. Customarily, seeing 4" or more on mature oaks indicates great structural strength.

This tree's hollow 5'+ of its 6' diameter at the ground. This pic is 3 months after a <9% reduction, <10 cm cuts, <2 m lengths. The northern portion of the crown was left alone, as it damped movement torether with the tree to the north. Perhaps try pulling the sod away from the edges of the hole, and look for woundwood growth. If you find woundwood at the margins, there is no cause for panic. I've heard on good account that one of your kings hid in a hollow oak, with his horse, and the tree still stands 400 years later. No great urgency re felling or mutilation.. I've seen 'ruin' as a spec for tree pruning, written by qualified arbs. But I cannot understand what or why that is. Who do we think we are?

"I'm lacking understanding about removing loads of energy producing foliage - to reduce loading, then expecting the tree to have energy to both grow and defend itself against the pathogen." Shift your focus from quantity removed (irrelevant) to quality retained (all that matters.) Much foliage is redundant and unproductive. When leaves shade leaves that shade leaves etc., removing some is beneficial. It all requires water for them all to stay alive. CODIT is nourished by resources beyond our ken. How much sunlight can be harvested, with minimal strain on the circulatory system, is the question.

"Once it doesn't do some or any of these it has no purpose..." When did God die and appoint you heir? Even if tree guys were trained landscape designers, we would not be qualified to make these amenity judgments. Who do we think we are? See the tree in 10 years; if pruned to restore form. If the cavity is too ugly, then put a trellis in front with an ornamental vine or shrub on it. Killing a tree just because it's been topped shows a lack of imagination, or experience, or both. There is NO DATA that shows it's less strong than it would be without the rot. Pruning for Preservation 1106 AN.pdf

'Frothy flux' distinct from slime flux. Does it smell like it looks?

Interior decay is so scary. All hollow trees should be burned, and their ashes buried, so the evil does not spread. RETRENCHING HOLLOW TREES FOR LIFE 131226 tcia.docx

Huge amount of woundwood; may be stronger than a 'normal' trunk.