ScottF

Hadn't been here for years. Was suitably blown away and annoyed with myself for having left it so long (despite living less than an hour away). Well worth a trip, even in mid-winter. S

In my experience, tree planting specs are often written by landscape architects with little or no practical experience of tree planting, and who often specify outdated methods. I have no idea what "anchoring timber" is, but all of the most up-to-date guidance recommends using the absolute bare minimum of support for trees, even ones of this size. I think it's part of the task of contractors to use their judgement and query when they think a spec is wrong. Were you thinking of using Platipus or similar (PG GEFA)? If above-ground support is the best solution, then I'd use soft spacers and strapping rather than rigid timber bars (which are very vulnerable to wind damage, are interesting to vandals and are prone to damaging stems). They move a bit with the wind, and will not abrade the stem. I get mine from J Toms Toms Tree Ties , and have used them on x-heavies with great success (in a three-post configuration). Best of luck

Excellent work spotting, documenting and reporting the tree. Sounds like it fell on receptive ears and was dealt with quickly,too. I've found sometimes that, depending on who you report a knackered tree to, you'll get a fairly broad range of responses, from panic to indifference with some sensible ones in between. Despite this, if you have the knowledge and feel like you've got a potential hazard tree on you hands, it's alwys best reported than not.

Great post, Tony. Hear hear!

Looking for self-employed tree surveyors to assist at busy periods. Work is a mixture of BS5837 surveys and general safety/risk assessment work, with some site supervision on live engineering and construction schemes. Work in generally in and around North Wales, but ongoing contracts with other consultancies can sometimes require working further afield. Someone based in North Wales, ideally near Bangor, would be preferred. Ideally, the candidate would have reliable tree ident skills, along with strong pest & disease knowledge. A thorough understanding of the relavent standards and associated guidance and best practice would be expected. The work would generally involve working from a rugged GPS data collector and emailing the files back. The role may develop to include Picus surveys, Airspade work etc. You would generally be working with another member of staff, but some lone working may be required. PM me or email through the website for more details or to send in a CV. Cheers Scott

Fantastic images. Looks like someone's been down in the undergrowth to get those shots.

In terms of an introductory to intermediate arb text the ISA guide is excellent. Very clear, laid out and current. In terms of the qualification, as someone said earlier, it really is an internationally-consistent and recognised ticket. In terms of taking it further,the ISA offer the municpal and utility arb specialist tickets,too, and eventually the Board-Certified Master Arborist. I've looked into it in the UK and it doesn't seem to be available here (yet), but it's something i'll be looking into as and when it does.

very cool

Done. Let the geoological pace of change in the AA commence....

I was so impressed by this guy "showing me how it's done" I decided to get on Ebay and get tooled up. If anyone spots an old blunt saw, a gammy strop, and old leather harness (ideally without leg loops) and a nice sweaty bandanna, let me know. Also, if anyone can see a pair of glasses which makes a small to medium pine tree look like a "120 foot monster", please PM me. Cheers [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOhpM25h1jc&feature=related]Veteran Climber Albert on 120ft. large Pinetree - YouTube[/ame]

A happy ending. Just needs a thorough beating of the ne'er do well's involved to make my day.

Cheers, Gerrit. I think that all adds up. Fire vectoring armillaria through boiled roots, essentially.

Hi Gerrit well, I went back to sniff the ooze, but the odour was fairly indistinct. It was, however, viscous, deep red-brown and fairly sticky. Attached is a close-up of the weep, plus a possible dried weep (brown light crust) just to the left of the ooze proper. I had a bit of a look around and about three metres from the oak was a standing dead cherry laurel. The tree has been dead for some time and there is a black deposit (possibly a Hypoxylon sp.?) on the stem. The sample is attached. There are no other dead or diseased trees nearby. Yes, Matt, I think that fire's involved, but I'm now trying to get to the bottom of the knock-on effects in terms of disease entering the damaged wood and roots, and it's significance. Cheers

Hi Gerrit. Perhaps, but as I said, the black areas don't correspond to the where the ivy was. That doesn't address the thick weep or the other symptoms though.

Hi Gerrit, I removed the ivy when inspecting the tree, but the position of the ivy doesn't correlate with the position of the blackened bark. Did you mean, the bark damage precedes the growth of the ivy? I guess it must. The surrounding vegetation is cherry laurel thicket, all quite young and small diameter.. It's hard to see from the images, but the area of blackened bark is slightly recessed in relation to the surrounding bark. As I say, I can't rule out fire, as the associated root damage may cause the other symptoms (movement, small leaves, low vigour), and possibly a secondary infection with Armillaria, for instance (hence the early weep). But then again, it just doesn't look "right".

Bit stumped with this one. Looked at an oak the other day which had pushed a small section of a wall down after a wind, although it had been buckling the wall for years. Small leaves, weak extension compared to its neighbours and scatted dead wood. The slightly puzzling bit was the blackened and slightly depressed bark near the base. I can't rule out fire, as it is in a little snicket where kids hang out, but ti just looks odd. There was a fairly weep at two point close to one another. No fruiting bodies or obvious hyphae. Picus test revealed a fairly clean stem for the age and specie. Any ideas?

yup. bay

Good spot on the Sorbus. If you like hardy odd asiatic trees, you should take a day trip down to Crug Farm gardens and nursery near Caernarfon. They travel to wet and mountainous areas of Korea, Taiwan, Japan etc (basically similar climates to North Wales) and collect lots of stuff from seed and sell on. My garden's filling up quite nicely with their stuff. The owners, Bleddyn and Sue are super-friendly, interesting and helpful.

Another nugget of handy info there, Gerrit. Cheers

Here you go. This was taken in the Treborth Botanical Garden in Bangor. About this time of year a couple of years ago.

Cheers for posting this, Tony. I reckon the subscription-based service sounds pretty good from a cost and turnaround point of view. I might give them a try in the new year.

I like your style, JammyDodger

The FC has schedule for the various treatments that are needed to grow trees from seed in the UK. The PDF is here: http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/fcpg018.pdf/$FILE/fcpg018.pdf If you weren't sure where you wanted to plant them out straight away, you could germinate them in Roottrainers and then plant them out next year. I've grown millions of them in these and have always had good results.

Hi Gerrit. I hadn't seem the thread you linked to above, and it is quite thought-provoking. The commercial reality I generally have to deal with is such that if a tree has a bracket on it, of any specie, it's seen as a reason to fell, either to enable a development or due to general risk-aversity. This is particularly true when a third party has spotted it and reported it to the client, often accompanied by a sharp intake of breath and much head-shaking. Trying to convince a client that a tree might have many years left to give with some corrective work/retrenchment/monitoring is often a difficult task, but I do try. And, when I get that rare client who's trying to retain a tree, despite there being a fungus evident, I will go some way out of my way for them. For a service like the one you describe for work for me (and, I suspect, other contractors and consultants out there), it would need to satisfy the following: 1) It would need to be reactive: an ID would need to be turned around as quickly as possible, 2-3 days max; 2) It would need to be simple to take and provide a sample: I presume this would be straightforward enough, requiring a sterile sample jar and a suitable specimen? 3) Naturally, it would need to be cost-effective. As I mentioned above, we're already testing the client's credulity by saying a tree with a fungal bracket is worth saving, the cost would need to not discourage them further. There are some fairly handy mycologist types at my local University (Bangor), so I'll make some inquiries with top mushroom man there and report back.

I generally rely on the old eyeball, but having followed a few of your threads, this may well be something I'll look to do in certain cases. in arb consultancy we're often constrained available fees (which equals time) for this sort of detail. It returns to the idea of educating our clients and getting them to ask more of us.