Tony Croft aka hamadryad

thanks ben, and yes Everyones a winner, we all get a bit of work, we get to do what we do best and everyones happy, its all good:thumbup1: you made that rocking horse yet?

the annual foray is a guaranteed certainty EVERY year no ifs buts whens or maybes:thumbup1:

and in the U.k we have been pollarding all willow species, crack willow seems to be the most prone to limb failures when regrown though, and ive seen them tear long strips of cambium as they fail which can cause large sections to die. Seems the older trees and larger cuts are the culprits.

Red Oak is notoriously poor at dealing with reduction wounds, often cabium dies back in strips and results in a flush of epicormic which isnt always long lived. They are very very difficult to manage and if Dado pulls it of I would be keen to see the result four years from now, I remain sceptical.

oh you bet mate, try and stop me, gotta see this place when it really kicks of mid september:thumbup1:

Thanks Sam, I had a feeling you was a little more than average:thumbup1: ha ha ha still havent got one for it! lol thanks jammy, skills to pay the bills eah, like it.

This chestnut has an obvious cause for the helical growth, a heavy lean and complicated by limbs to one side increasing the load and twisting the fibres ever tighter. This is never going to be ideal form, if a tree like this is close to other trees that are being removed or heavily reduced consideration of altered winds must be considered. If we was to expose this tree to unaccustomed wind loading and it failed as a result a decent expert witness may find us liable for causing the failure even though we had no contact. Another one of those differences that sort a good arb from the rest. This lovely and very large Horse chestnut within 50 yds of the one above has been colonised by Rigidiporus ulmarius. I photographed this tree some years ago (2 at a guess) and the bracket has not grown noticeably. There appears to be a lot of compensation within the rootplate but this may well be simply optomisation according to the tensile triangles and proof of high vitality and vigour= low liabilities and low priorities in assesment IMO. This is a lovely group of very old Hawthorns around fifty trees all within grass. One of the Hawthorns which has been pollarded and also showing extensive brown rot by a commonly associated fungus, Laetiporus sulphureus. We can see in the right image that the root plate has significantly lifted, a partial failure? I believe what has happened here is that this tree was when full crowned subject to a full root plate failure, fell flat on its bottom and when the top was removed sat back down. I think they left it to see if it came back and here it is, pollarded and doing very well indeed, sometimes we just have to sit back and take a minute to see how things turn out:001_cool: Here another Oak (Q robur) colonised by yes you guessed it, Inonotus dryadeus, again shot this tree 2 years ago, so fruiting reliably, still standing and looking fine. Draw your own conclusions if you will. An absolutley stonking churchyard Cherry, pictures no justice at all, this was stunning. A lovely life belt on Quercus robur, a common scenario among tall/exposed trees grown in competition and absolutely no risks involved as this is a repair structure from minor buckling in an extreme event (wind loading) A hispidus induced limb failure and some wild Garlic just lovely images And finaly an oak that is in desperate need of some arb assitance, an over extended limb (phototropism) twisting of the fibres is evident in bark patterns indicating high stress at this oint and also indicating where and how the failure will present. Very predictable failure scenario, will probably be a slow twist fail and may even remain attached and hanging.

Ha ha, I will leave that side of things to you guys, its your thing and we all have our buzz, maybe in the future us arbs will refine our approach and specialise. It works for thee and me, we work for the same client, you do your thing, and I do mine, maybe thats the future? And thanks fella:001_cool:

I get a bit bored of looking for relevant threads to add images and thoughts to these days, so I thought I would just have one almighty great thread of my weekly or daily discoveries, finds, thoughts and general insane drivel:lol: So from here in reductions, fungi, body languages, tree survey/assessments and all that is encompassed in my daily obsession/working life shall be located here. This is partly down to the need to step back my time on here as things are taking orf a bit for me and I need to focus and get my head into some hardcore books again. Which brings me to the bookclub which of course I will always be around for and is self running rather well as it was always intended to be, and big up respect for all those who have played the game fair and square. Finally thanks to you all for the support, respect and entertainment at times, and especially for all the friendships I have made along the way, you guys and girls are just priceless:thumbup1: oh and one last thing, I was made aware that some individuals feel awckward about asking me for help, because of this rather ridiculous status that some seem to have attached to me. Now listen up, I am Tony, im just an arb, I am a freelance arborist as well as a full time employee, if you want to hire me for some random job, whatever it is, this guns for hire! In fact the more random the more interesting for me! Ive had some really random/odd job requests of late and have to say, its all been rather interesting. Meeting new people, teaching, chatting and generally getting involved is what makes me a happy chap/arb, so you have my e mail at the bottom, you know how to find me. I have to make a living like the rest of you so I am always thankful for opportunities, from presenting on P and D issues, ageing ancient Oaks to freelance climbing jobs, tree surveys/assessments, even ecological work, its all within my remits and well within my capabilities. So dont be shy, there really is no need, im as humble as they come and find this "hama"thing/reputation all rather hilarious, but it is flattering too, I would be a lier if I said I didnt enjoy it! I was uncomfortable at first but I am getting used to it! a little too used to it probably so feel free to argue and knock me down a peg or two from time to time, I have been known to be wrong on occasions! shhhhh:lol: Now, lets get to it, got lots of pics for you lot today I will get me tea sorted and get downloading!

and gerrit, you can add acer and aesculus to the daldinia host range:thumbup:

The core material (decayed remnants from centre where carbon dated Gerrit, I too had reservations but was assured the data gathered was done very scientifically. And I personally was much more confidant after seeing this image.

in the U.K we have an expression called "backpeddling":thumbup1:

yes I agree, but would also say that there is a very large band of reaction zone there so maybe not as knee jerk as you may accuse yourself of.

its exactly how I too would manage this association. Failure occurs in longer slenderness ratio cases with increasingly narrow T/R ratios, pollarding addresses the issues and once the new framework of foliage is re established carbohydrates are closer to where they are needed for any compensation.

of course I do, you been up there again! you loves it dont ya, not surprised Croft Castle grounds are a truly awesome ancient woodland habitat:thumbup1:

stabilised shear bomb.

this post sean

I think i posted a seperation shear in here a while back, shall look back, and also find you a nice shear bomb, but havent you got a mattheck book handy! lol if not I will tell Claus in may, and I bet he will say why the hell not is he a crazy Ba.....rd! in that strong german accent!

Why dont you find a nice ancient woodland near you and give us a ring Im up for meeting up down your way for a bimble, my time is yours me old mucka you know that. besides I owe you a fungi guide!

I will hold you to that late summer maybe:thumbup1:

Sean, a shear bomb is a short central crack which stops where the neutral fiber is at around a metre or two, a shear crack is a shear bomb crack its all shear force but shear bombs are almost normal developmental proscess. Its a complicated thing to explain in this format but..... theres three shears, seperation shear crack, where a root delaminates along with a volume of the stem, VERY dangerous. Shear crack whereby the leaning tree for example delaminates to to tension on upper side and compressive force lowerside forces a sgear plane along the centre fibres also pretty knarly and a shear bomb whereby the forces of the crown and roots cancel each other out at the wrist of the sttem hence the "nuetral fibres":thumbup: if that doesnt help phone me i will explain till your happy:thumbup:

I will bet somebody knows this kid! poor lad, he is going to get torn up in here by you lot!

Im always game for a travel about, and havent been to Norfolk yet that i know of, what you thinking?

my eyes, my eyes, must look away, it hurts my eyes.

its really great to see a good number of guys posting quality work these days, its so important to do it, to post and share these jobs.