Bundle 2

Extra "brownie"points to anyone who can explain why Ben is right AND wrong..

The position of the pith as it appears in the picture in the first post. ( Pith...google it:001_smile: ) The growth rings continue to form but with an "eccentric' centre....This tells us something of the forces that the tree was under at the time this wood was "laid down" as we arbs are so keen on saying!! ( which put another way means "formed" )

Right...I see the confusion...It was a related article. I fail to see a loss of relevance to issues of risk perception and management however, despite the dated status of the report. Sorry for any inconvenience people!

Think I would explain that by looking to the science of the wood anatomy. The ring fails to complete ( in both cases ) as it gets physically closer to the heartwood. We can say two things as result of this.....The wood is tension wood. Therefore mechanically altered in comparison to "normal" wood. This will affect the advance of decay. It will affect CODIT ( as resources differ..ie, tylosis,suberin and so on; and mobilisation of these resources, the defence system .. )

David...without wishing to detract from the illustrative purpose which many of the shots contain, 1,2 & 4 are great images. ( No 5 gets my vote too for some reason...)

Address me as you would anyone else... Oh and welcome to the forum.....

Andy..No, this had not occurred to me for two reasons I suppose. I did not hear of the accident at the time it was first reported for whatever reason..Secondly, it was an electronic mail from HortWeek, received today. TODAY I am left thinking that HortWeek is not the publication it once was. That'll learn me to believe everything I read eh!!

I appreciate your taking the time to post by way of clarification as to the intricacies of" drawing a line in the sand" as you put. Clearly there needs to be someway of going ahead with respect to membership . I can assure you that despite my lack of recognised qualification, I am quite capable of reading the AA's ruling on this and working it out for myself. What my question really seeks an answer to is the arbitrary way in which any level appears to be awarded; in saying this let me make it clear that I am glancing at issues in school curriculae and seeing perhaps similarities with A'levels for example. Are they really so much easier to obtain than once they were? And whilst awarding bodies take time out to ponder the next step in order to keep quals current and to a standard, what are we to do about the void left in the interim. Please dont feel called upon to respond in any way on my account. I see a tendency perhaps within the industry that places a great deal of emphasis on qualifications. This is not wrong. I see this trend throughout the countries recent history....and at a time of credit calling on its debtors, it seems those who stand to lose the most are those with significant investment in their education. You are certainly right about one thing Paul..it is most frustrating

Except that huge sums have been invested in designing lamposts in a way that ensures they collapse with a minimum impact (consequence) to the vehicle...As are roadside signings these days. The issue tho' is one of finance. It is extremely expensive to produce crumple posts in comparison. We still feel it is worthwhile. But not in all situations .The same could be said of encap safety ratings... Clearly it costs alot of dough for a 3 month investigation. If I was cynnical, I might not be too impressed in an investigation that concludes the bus struck the tree..... I dont want to continue for fear of seeming insensitive. It does seem however, to be an issue of what we "perceive" an acceptable risk in the same way it is an issue of what we "deem" an acceptable expense. The truth is I think we are being led a merry dance. It is hard to know how exactly we set about getting our minds right....?

I enjoyed this...sorry if its been posted before. Yew-Lowe.pdf

All hail, a new king in town! Arboricultural sector to pressure Whitehall for urban tree research commitment | Arboriculture News | Horticulture Week

Being aware that I may find myself speaking out of turn, certainly ahead of the findings of any inquiry...This article (from the HW) started alarm bells ringing. The reporting has implied that the bus struck the tree (and not the other way around.) So what..(Its the tree's fault?) Fatal accident stresses need to invest more in tree care | Arboriculture News | Horticulture Week

"Ecobiomechanics"..........what a mouthful.... Thats bad enough...check these bad boys... "..........mechanoperception and thigmomorphogenesis" Interestingly, Niklas talks about the historical difficulties presented by language in relation to science and "progress" as he puts it. He also cites mathematics as presenting its own brand of difficulties, even describing disagreements as "vitriolic" Not sure whether this is based on historical accounts or a personal opinion. I have to say when reading research papers I often think to myself that stating the blindingly obvious need not be quite so loquacious....

I thought this might be of interest.I have posted in this thread for reasons that will , I hope, become obvious. I have not read this short prospectus from Nilkas myself yet.. A summary from elsewhere..."plant biomechanics incorporates engineering principles into the biological sciences. Niklas et al. (2006) provide a historical overview of this subject, suggesting that Schwendener’s 1874 seminal monograph established the field of study. One of the primary goals for arborists is to minimize the risk of tree failure and research has turned towards biomechanics in an effort to better understand how trees withstand loading events. " 1874 eh.....? Geez, who's this Mattheck geezer anyway!! Niklas 2006-Overview copy.pdf

Sorry to say I am posting this as only four episodes remain available on iPlayer....better late than never as the saying goes.....? BBC - BBC Radio 7 Programmes - Wildwood: A Journey Through Trees

Not the first and I would hope, not the last time that presentation gets posted up on here and other arb focused fora.. 1 cubic inch is home to @8 miles of mycelium....His foot covers about 300 miles of mycelium cells....This is an outlandish concept even if it is halfway accurate...

"I cant get all technical like you esteemed and learned folks, least not yet, but I will say this, if I had 13k I would buy one tommorow over anything else." A thermal imaging unit that has been judged "fit 4 purpose" by MBT & Co about 12 months since weighed in at £6,ooo...so quite alot less than you have indicated Hama.... Take look at this..... 12Things_Booklet.pdf

Anyone who may have attended the Barcham series of lectures last year will remember perhaps Glynn Percival talking about this...SIR. Here is an article from the ISA journal. Nice to catch up with this again. SIR .pdf

Oh b****x, cant even spell it properly...No-one will notice will they!! Anthropomorphistic.....Yeah yeah, Im just making that up now! Anthropomorphism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Seems a bit tiresome... I think you could seek some legal advice about the steps you might take to curtail this kind of thing but suspect there is little you can really do.....I would take it as a compliment . Why not pay him a visit and point out the obvious?

There are no guarantees whatever you decide to do. In the long term, I would have to say Ash IS prone to decay when considered in comparison to other hardwood species, pruning wounds being the obvious location for this. I think you might be thinking that to alter/inhibit apical dominance by reducing height (ie growth tip is cut back ) this will encourage more growth from a lower region within the trees habit/structure. This seems reasonable. BTW, I have coppiced and seen a quantity of coppiced ash stools. They can be managed or maintained in this way quite satisfactorily. What you describe is not what I would want at the end of my backyard. However, you have perhaps not much to lose by pruning them further and much to gain if remedial work encourages a manageable and desired effect? If you decide to remove and replant, can I suggest using hazel?

Very anthromorphistic David !