onetruth

Please can anyone copy & paste or provide a web-link to a list of Peterken's 1977 General Management Principles for Nature Conservation in British Woodlands? I'm in the process of drafting up a plan for my local woods: not looking for the whole text, just a reminder of what the 15 principles were. I thought it would be a doddle to online find online but, alas...

When I first went to college the head of arboriculture told us we should aspire to be arborists, not tree surgeons. That may have been his way of emphasizing the importance of knowing one's subject, then again it may just have been snobbery. Among arborists, "arborist" is well understood and it's the word I'd use naturally. For any other setting I'll say "tree surgeon". To my mind the terms are entirely synonymous. I am most certainly not, and never will be an "arboriculturalist": that would be someone who practices "arboricultural" and is a linguistic nonsense. I think. But then again, what do I know, I'm just a "tree guy".

Thanks, I'll take that as a cast iron guarantee.

Will it fade, or should I look for a new wife?

I brought back some freshly cut poplar boards today and have stacked them in the back garden. They emit a strong odour - imagine a cross between nappies and semen. My wife is not impressed - the smell is noticeable the moment the kitchen door is opened. Does anyone have any idea for how long the smell is likely to persist?

Thanks for the contributions. The stem flares to about 2m dia. at ground level so I wont be digging it. I can't keep it for habitat either. By "healthy" I mean not presenting any obvious symptoms or signs of stress. I take your (and Gary's) point about the prevalence of the fungi. There are some pretty special trees within 50m or so; I want to do the right thing by them. That said, based on the replies thus far I'm inclined to back fill the hole with the grindings - will save at least a days work.

I've taken down a big cherry riddled with decay fungi and want to grind out the stump. There are lots of very nice, healthy trees near by. Should I take away all the grindings and refill with soil, or is it fine to leave them in situ? Thanks.

wow! thanks for that log rolling link, looks very entertaining for both spectators and participants. I must admit it took me the whole video before I realised they were duelling rather than co-operating.

Amusing homoerotic undertone to that video. I'd pay-per-view for some of that!

Nothing in particular to gardening/tree work if you already have nptcs. Insurance - Employer's Liability (Public Liability advisable) Waste Carrier's License (no cost if just moving green waste) PPE, first aid kit etc Register as self employed with HMRC They are the only legal requirements I can think of. If trees are being climbed there should be someone on the ground who can rescue.

I've always used the portwest "thermogrip" gloves for climbing (and pretty much everything else) for many years. Excellent for gripping thinner climbing lines. They're cosy but still fine for summer use. There's no additional protection, but they seem to offer good abrasion resistance on rough bark. Each pair will last several jobs before the grip coating gets badly worn. Fingertips can be snipped with scissors if needed, but I find there to be ample dexterity without doing so - can tie and untie knots in climbing line no problem. They seem fine with the zigzag (actually worse with friction hitches where they can roll into the hitch). I'll get the rubber trapped in a carabiner gate a couple of times each climb, that's all. I've dropped a silky onto the back of my hand a few times - it hurts and bleeds a little bit less if I'm wearing the gloves. Best of all they're very cheap (< £1.50 / pair), so I keep spares everywhere and don't care if I lose a pair. Welding gauntlets and a fibreglass pole for the other thing.

I can't help feeling Beaux Beaux would be happier if you put up a wall.

It was a good day for me. I got some awesome gaffa tape from the postman that morning.

^ I agree with all of this, but this isn't really my area of expertise. In my opinion... If the trees are 10m away, that's probably not a big deal. There are cases of damage caused by more distant trees, but it's not common. 5m is close for a big tree, but it would still be unusual for structural damage to occur, rather than the norm. If the house is on "shrinkable" soil (think clay) then damage is a little more likely. You should be able to find out for yourself if this is the case. If the house is modern (sounds like it wont be) it is less of an issue - I believe building regs were amended in the 70's to ensure foundations could better tolerate fluctuations in how saturated the ground is. I, personally, would go for another viewing and have a good look for any signs of cracking in the walls. If I didn't see any, I'd be happy. As was said before, if you're getting a mortgage the bank will probably insist on specific reports. Insurers might do the same.

You're very welcome. Your thread inspired me to spend an evening bag-modding.

I've always assumed that steel carabiners are preferred because they can better endure an impact with something hard. Is there any other reason why I shouldn't use aluminium if it's suitably rated?

I assume you're not going to be VAT registered or have any NI paying employees? I suggest you don't get any specialist software, just use a spreadsheet. Excel is good if you have it, or do it online with googledocs (free if you have a gmail account). You don't need anything fancy, any spreadsheet will work. If you're keeping a diary of everything coming in and keeping receipts for everything going out then that's all needed for record keeping - your account should easily be able to work it out from that. Basically you'll be taxed on your profits as if it was your salary. Really good idea. I try and update after every job, but in reality I waste hours each year searching for records after periods of sloppy bookkeeping.

I always do. Rounded up to the nearest half-day. Never had a complaint that it was done too quickly, many times I've been given a big tip if it takes longer. Silly argument. Your £50k chipper isn't making the job quicker, but if you didn't have a saw and tried to gnaw your way through the tree... Yes.

Better still, abolish VAT altogether and bring in the revenue through income tax instead. VAT is extremely regressive, hitting the poorest hardest. It's also expensive for the government to collect, stifles business growth, is too easy to dodge, and harms the internal market. Edit:... I realise this post will be of absolutely no help to the op whatsoever. Sorry about that!

Possibly not. Just more uninsured outfits. Personally, I think a bigger worry is the fact that some tree work firms, who think they are covered for tree work, are in fact only covered for gardening/landscaping. Now that is a situation where the insurers certainly could refuse a third party claim.

Not sure about this. My understanding is that if there is a legitimate claim against you, your PL or EL will pay out to the third party. The insurers may then revoke your cover and seek to recoup the payment if your are in breach of the terms of your contract. I don't think they can just decide retrospectively that you weren't covered. Yes. Similar with third party claims on motor insurance. If you're drunk and cause a crash, the other driver may receive payment from your insurers but you might not, and the insurers could try to recover the payment made back from you. Never had to make a claim so not 100% certain I'm not talking cowpoo. Anyone had any direct experience they'd like to share? Probably not the sort of thing you'd want to publicise!

Unless (and even if) the employer is intending to pay him for those 12 months, I think that would be a wholly unenforceable clause. Your mate might want to get in touch with the Citizens' Advice Bureau.

Providing the employee has served his notice period (if there is one) and hasn't taken holidays which haven't been earned, the employer can't withhold pay like that (very few exceptions, none of which have anything to do with confidentiality). I think it is actually a criminal offence, not just a civil one. Confidentiality clauses can be (and very often are) agreed retrospectively, usually with a big additional payment to the employee. I'm a tree surgeon, not a lawyer, so don't quote me! Edit: ...perhaps your friend could "offer" to publish everything he knows about his former employer on-line and email the link to all his clients and competitors? Or, as the previous poster suggested, sign it and forget about it.

Funnily enough I spotted this about an hour ago on a crimson king I planted last winter. No point in fungiciding it, then? Prognosis good?

nope, just a trick. if you pause it at 1:26 you can clearly make out a gnome up his sleeve with a splicing fid.