treeseer

One of those you did looked to have been chiseled. or very tricky sawmanship! Decent chisels can be had at the dollar store. Straight edge work for me, just so they're sharp... o and the most recent draft of the US standard came out for review--final?--just today. http://www.tcia.org/sites/tcia.org/files/A300Part8-Drft4-V1-PubRev-05-2013_1.pdf

I used one once and found it rather clumsy. There's a lot of good data to be had from the core by handling it, checking anatomy, the smells...

David, great documentation! I'm wondering if, after that last handsaw cut, that severed section could be wiggled. if so, automatic that it should come off, even if some of the stem tissue lapping over it is damaged. if not, I would still be inclined to chisel a V or 3 in it, and try wiggling again, and remove it or even just lengthwise sections taken off. imo what you did so far is good, but the main problem is still there so the benefits will be minor at best. Avoid the arboreal version of Dunlap's Disease (in humans in the SE US, where the belly done lapped over the belt) by tracing away compressed bark. Ya gotta free up the phloem to expand outward, to see benefits, and avoid included bark.

Yes, circumferential continuity is what is key. Colors can be changed by the software; very misleading. Where in the world do these ratios come from? .3, 80/20...there is very little science behind these, and what there is makes clear that they do not apply to trees bigger than 30". Hollowing is a natural process, as waste products in heartwood are shed. Many old trees are hollow, and standing. Counting and measuring the intact buttresses assesses stability. On the sycamore, interesting that a girdling root affects the decayed portion.

Sorry to hear the asset will be lost before the liability understood.

Amazing height on that beech sgr! The cherry seems to have taken care of that nicely-- Nature worth emulating.

for those keen to avoiding anything newagey, this clearing process could be likened to recalibrating the internal auditory mechanism. A similar clearing/calming process is useful when wrapping one's bare hands around a branch, to discern signs of dormant buds and other natural targets for pruning.

Black bumps look like Kretch to me. aside from ID, assess extent by removing loose dead material and looking for woundwood.

Yes but not an end point. Agree with cutting beyond the old cuts, to minimize wounding and decay. Smaller is better; less wounding is more better, if the objective is tree health and structural integrity.

Extraordinary swelling. liriodendron very common native here so pic4 is a familiar sight. Never ID'd it; here stems can look like that a long time without other changes in condition noted. or maybe i just was not paying enough attention.

Yes pulling off dead bark is path to diagnosis. I've seen similar on pine but not related dieback. Maybe a look inside will confirm a conneciton, or not. The way it oozes out of nodes lloks fungal, like a phellinus canker rotter busting out. or not.

ok, i figgered the rigidiporus was a stem issue and reason for that focus, but... still having trouble comprehending roots as a health/vascular and not a structural/risk issue on any tree roots after all hold them all up, no? having the flare hidden seems an extreme limitation on any risk assessment

"We have had high winds in the U.k recently too, last thursday in particular, even healthy trees go down in that kind of weather." Tony that may be true, but it's entirely beside the point. That tree appears most unhealthy, so you are comparing rotten grapefruit to tangerines. Good suggestion to stop and take a step away from the tree with any saws and drills for a moment. Firstly you need to quantify the problem, but if you lack a tomograph that is difficult. Even with one it can be a lot of guessing involved. Knowing the condition of the tree internally is only one part of the issue--gotta assess roots, and also calculate load as well to know the probability of failure. If overdone, crown reduction wounds, reduces energy resources, and changes its physiological and structural balance with the potential to reduce any growth/energy expenditure strategies it may have in use to limit decay. But it's not clear that IMPROVING structure via light pruning of a tree with a full crown affects total photosynthesis at all. That sounds more like a myth every time I hear it, a theory full of holes. At any case the reduction in load would seem to be worth any temporary reduction in food-making. The ideal that no action be taken to reduce load after finding a gano conk in a schoolyard seems less than prudent, practically and politically. Totally agree with a well-meaning drill being used to break through any existing defensive walls the tree may have already formed, and the potential for the intervention to be negative is obvious. Sounding and probing alone might gain a lot of info.

Why not? No Rx without an RCX is the rule here. How can care be prescribed without examining the root collar? Are there roots down there at all? Seems daft to go to all that work to assess trunk whilst ignoring roots, which after all hold the tree up. Wood decay is at ground level, maybe where mower or strimmer gouged it. Curious enough to drill four holes, merrily breaking codit barriers, but no dirt removed to expose the the site and eyeball and probe it? no offense meant but that defect-centered approach is what i hear brits deride about american arb, yet here you're doing the same. Don't mind me; haven';t had my tea yet. Ta.

That first reading is odd indeed. Any thought to getting the dirt off the stem and finding the flare?

re the failed tree, apples and oranges. that one had massive dysfunction on the side of the trunk that gave out. mallet and probe/shovel/trowel could have quantified that root loss in minutes.

" I saw many, many trees that had girdled roots that indeed either grafted to the buttress or inhibited growth (on that side). Conifers too but the affect not apparent?" Pines here tend to graft more readily. "when she plants a tree she should sever the roots she can not physically untangle from a spiral within the (root) ball to give the tree a better chance of sending out some supporting laterals. To date it has been successful " as well it should be; excellent advice. "I don't have the luxury of an airspade or I would make roads in to more investigative work. Hand tools are a very good substitute I hear you say!" but slower. much slower. "This is a very interesting thread and I just wonder if some girdling affects some species over others" Acers are bad over here.

try the scratch and sniff test. many general or even species have very distinctive smells.

asset works, or "property", but I like "hazard" best; very descriptive. I agree w Shane, "target" is oxymoronic.

Yes cherries graft better than some species. If there is no grafting then girdling is constricting and harm so pruning is in order, unless the root is >1/3 the trunk size maybe. Roots compartmentalise much better than stem or branch tissue. If kept dry those wounds seal well. "I remember when planting too deep was the main blame for girdling roots, I never subscribed to that theory" And what theory has gained your subscription? Acer saccharum below deeply planted in the rootball at the nursery => bad girdling root.

...and keep in mind that it takes two to tango; the fungus' strategy depends on the host's strategy. Could be the prof is asking a Zen question and trying to trip you up. one hand clapping

First, the brackets are in sinuses, which are between the butresses. This matters because the tree stands on the buttresses. What % of the sinuses have brackets? Judging by the size of the tree, a crown cleaning and light reduction <10% with <2" cuts might be in order, brackets or no.

Tree Services Magazine - To Prune or to Cable? - April, 2013 - FEATURES Evidently the author just took pics of 2 jobs that he and his boss did and wrote about them. Really nice job imo, and great PR.

Curious how the little one cuts in so while the big one seems to be loosened over time somehow. Both no-brainers to prune, if the tree is being managed at all. 037 is an ash in a parking lot 025 a Liquidambar last is at Kew; surprising to see such defects pass inspection there.

Maybe pick out any black crusties before grinnding that oughta do it. The fungus is everywhere so this does not sound like an enormous issue.