treeseer

" a wind blown is nature at work often these trees redevelop with one dominant leader, a man with a chainsaw is less often able to replicate this." I wonder if this is true? Nature often fails at the work of restoring stability, and men and women with handsaws sometimes succeed. Yes one dominant leader is often preferable, but that is not a law. the species naturally goes decurrent with age; can that timetable be tweaked?

add a mulch to rob free nitrogen from the soil"

in my days before arboriculture I foolishly and ignorantly piled soil up around it when digging out a patio that was about 15 years ago, my bad! never too late to remove it!

X2. Just because a reduced leader will resprout and need management (don't all urban trees?) is no reason to cut the whole tree down, unless you're really hard up for work. Instead of topping again, there is always the option of restoring, by removing some sprouts and reducing others. Yes trees lose their tops in nature all the time; thank god there aren't always Arb Nazis around to hurl fire and brimstone about 'epicormic attachments failing' and other such demons, which are easily and affordably managed by any arb with a lick of sense. You're back annually, great, but 1 or 2X/decade would suffice.

That sounds like more than 1/7 of the height was removed, to force oversprouting. Nothing strange about a spec that signals a tree to start rounding over/going decurrent. ahead of schedule maybe but it's ok to change the schedule, slightly.

Damage is obvious; "wait and see" might result in "too late to fix it". Good luck to Matt: looks like quite a challenge with all those soil and root issues.

Pics show that stem is buried. The flare must be visible to assess, so you need not a saw but a shovel. With no idea of the rate of Gano's spread, why think in terms of removal, or an extreme re-pollard that could hasten decline? See page 32 here for a compromise solution. The Voice of Tree Care | Tree Care Industry Association

So the world and her husband are all the poorer then.

'Thanks for your reply. It helps. You're welcome. "The tree is in full leaf and seems perfectly healthy, but there would be no sign of decline for a few years though, as the tree has plenty of energy reserves for new growth. How do you know? Measuring twigs helps measure those reserves. "They have dug around 8to10 inches into the soil so they have disturbed/destroyed roots and the soil has been compacted for a long time. How compacted for how long? You must examine roots and soil--do they have soil probes at the school, or just bulldozers? "As an environmental college they need to relise how inmportant trees are to the environment and I would like the college to learn from this act in a proffesional Arboricultural way, so I am looking for the best solutions for the future health of this tree. "As Lucombe oaks are a newfound hybrid from around 130 years go they have no predicted life span yet Just as well--those numbers have little use due to trees' regenerative potential. "so from a tree enthusiast point of view it would be good for me to set in motion the preservation of this tree for a number of beneficial I do not need to explain here on this site. All good but you must first ask the tree the right questions and look in the right places for the answers.

Hard to comment without knowing more about condition of the tree and the soil. Have you extracted cores of soil? Do you know how many inches of soil was graded away? In the crown, what is the twig extension the last 3 years? etc. Details provided, while useful, aren't enough to base specs on. as for "lots of damage to its base", we see one patch of bark dislodged. I would suggest tracing this wound and consider use of a sealant/disinfectant. That, and require a bond by any grading contractor to mitigate any future damage. We can say "damage is unacceptable", but what choice do we have but to accept it? Why was the gravel applied? Can it be removed, or is it needed for vehicles? etc.

hows it smell?

No mulch, no protection, = no tree.

that's an old wound with scavengers. Scrape off loose rot and hose it and don't worry about it. re imidacloprid, read the label.

as any tree lover must be! These from mid-Florida. Resurrection fern common on tree branches in southern US

Yes as dalton said it rarely if ever invades living wood, ime. Who is Alan Sugar and why would i want to work for him and again where is the cavity? i could only see see bark missing. ok i guess that is technically a cavity; extremely shallow...

We have a grove of the progeny from those things; cool little trees. http://sfagardens.sfasu.edu/UserFiles/File/PLANTS/pinus%20taeda%20dwarf.pdf

These are generically called ambrosia beetles over here. They have never done serious damage to any living tree I know of, but I've been outbid on two projects by a firm that sells a treatment for the insects along with pruning. Just a competitive edge to hype the risk of igglies doing dastardlies, imo. Do these beetles damage your oaks to the point that you act to lessen their activity? This firm sold prophylactic treatments--chemicals and money wasted? Sixpence if you guess the company...

Loads of adaptive growth there. Planetrees are amazing that way! With that much strengthening on the outside plainly visible, how likely is it that decay inside is removing strength faster?

Stereum sp. is my first wild guess. Where's the cavity?

After confronting some nasty piles left by raccoons, I'm wondering how common it is for other arborists to encounter mammalian dung while aloft. They seem to prefer old branch wounds. It gets deep and I'm thinking it's not the best for the tree. Anyone else running afoul of furry associates in tree crowns?

How does one 'keep clear' of a big tree in their yard? Move to the Gobi Desert? A precautionary approach sounds like a defensive approach, which is not always defendable. I hispidus is sluggish in oak and gives plenty of warning, ime. Yes in ash it's worth a closer, balanced look at what is, with less of the 'what if'. Why would a TO refuse to allow reduction? Did they apply to take 90% off?

The question is, what are those orange-red bumps? they resemble nectria cinnabarina but darker, and they sure are packed together tightly. in the US it is a Very weak pathogen/saprophyte, so it's likely a secondary issue. if those are graft unions then the grafts failed, and i agree that is not an insurmountable barrier.

Doubting phosphite would control phytophthora in the ground. Rated for 'immune system boost' on living trees, sometimes quite effective for that.. Best to work on drainage imo. too bad (i think) alliette banned over there.

"Painting white here in the Uk is a rarely thought/talked about application" Why not? Very common in other areas, like China, Thailand... And if done, it need not be talked about, as the paint would be scarcely seen from the ground. Wrapping exposed areas is another option. i've used silver duct tape, a few times That pic of yours is so severe a 'reduction, stems need protection for over 12 months don't they? so the timing is less important? or do they resprout so vigorously it's soon shaded? "I suppose one tree aspect we seldom see (even whilst cutting) is the one from directly above which is where mid summer sun can do its fiercest work. It would be nice to have that view on every tree! .

Perhaps we are talking about different doses of reduction. >20% rare for me; i do more like this guy Tree Morphogenesis E-Books so i did not have sunscald risk in mind.. in that case, wait or paint it white. pruning collar dujesieffken.pdf