Tony Croft aka hamadryad

Why is good old non bio persil NOT reccomended?

yes that is the LAST thing i want, been there done that! Ive got some options left yet, maybe when I have completed the degree course I can get the job i need to avoid going it alone again! I am keeping my fingers crossed at the mo on a poss, but if that aint to be then i might have to start thinking of setting up for weekenders at the least.

i miss running my own firm it has to be said, i dont know if I could take another fall like the last one though, destroyed me emotionaly, took a long long time, well you never get over that loss really, it always hurts. lessons learnt though

where the hell is that beech!? well worth a visit by the looks of it, some really nice snow shots there, especialy the second one down, really nice composition

I would tend to agree! bet you was popular though!

I always found as others suggest in a pillow case standard wash. if its really bad give it a pre soak in a bucket of warm water with some washing powder, if youve ever seen the colour the water goes when washing ropes youll know why! that cant be good for your mrs machine!

Hi all, after some thoughts and a little advice from a few on here I am going to consider the jump back into self employment. Its been a while since I ran my own shop, made some mistakes in the past! How many of you are frelance/contract climbers, what sort of kit do you think is reqiured and expected and do you work with a steady groundie or work alone, with their help? Whats insurance like these days? and is it regular enough? are you carefull who you work with for or just take the rough with the smooth? anyone getting nocked much?

i think its a chin strap issue, no?

Its only mimicking nature, so whats the negative perception all about? one of natures own, a perfect little home for a critter in a busy park

both good reads!

But i am a student not a master! and i hope i never will be, doubt i ever will be, and if i ever do become one, fate will have dealt me a dillusional blow. Dont worry OB-1, i choose those I follow with wisdom!

and the point your making is?

lmao, thought about making it myself a few times, its reccomended then!

I think its pretty obvious now that there was another option here, and hopefully dan will have a different perspective next time. dan, you say you "strictly stick with the physical side" but try to consider yourself as the "CP" competant person, your the last chance a tree has, and the one who gets up close and personal with the tree. Its your responsibility to say as and when a tree works spec is "over and above" and more importantly doing more harm than good. Your obviously a young lad, in time youll change your perspective i am certain. i was you once, more concerned with "ability" and being a good climber. However, as you mature and your appreciation for the trees and their life cycle increases your "appreciation" for the finer points of our work will lead you to a deeper understanding and allow you the confidance to alter the situation in way more in sympathy with a trees natural habit. no ones judging here, just trying to influence you to have a little more empathy for the tree and to encourage you to have more confidance in your own views regards to the TOs opinion.

If you mean the scar below your spiked feet, i dont think thats justification for such a harsh spec. I thought you was talking about the scar half way up the stem from an older limb/stem loss? Dont cry over it? i wasnt really about to, you say what the TO says goes, but did the TO climb it to look at that "cavity" and judging by your response you imply you knew it was over cautious, so why didnt you broach the subject? Dont take this as negative critisicm, I am just curious about the why.

Seqioua is very resistant to decay, intersting point, but there is an upper limit to age and size, i would have to have a better look at the work of steve sillet

I take it your refering to the huskie helmets in the arb course images?

Yes merry chrimbo to you sir, i got my christmas wish snow has melted so i can get off to the woods and get the camera out!

even so, (would appreciate image of cavity) a heavy overall reduction would have resolved issues IMO

Low target issues, overall reduction would have decreased end loading with retention of first and second order scafold reducing large areas of dysfunction and bigger long term issues avoided, what a waste. limb shed is a natural part of the species, and can be largley solved by tip and thin.

one has to ask, why?

That prosces of "succsesion" he talks of is something we need to look at as part of our overall forestry/woodland managment plans. it is natures way, to go on and change through time scales few people can comprehend, that insightfull depth, that field of view is "inbuilt" and the very essence of that concept i try to get across, that some things are just hard wired in us, we understood it better when we was nomads i think.

the thing i like about Dr klinger is his "inbuilt" eye of ecological, geological time, he has that rare gift of seeing beyond the scope of mortal man, he sees the proscesses through time as though he was an imortal. i think that requires a sense of the total irelavance and superfluos nature of the human organism!

Blimey sky thats a long reply for you aint it! your first point is a goodun, and i see where your coming from. Everything in life is finite, we all grow old, although at various times and durations. trees are no exception, they too suffer from old age and physical limitations. my point is that they have co evolved strategies, that thier evolution is dual, with fungi, from the very begining. in other words, they havent evolved uninfluenced as a single unit. the tree and fungi are so entwined and have been for ever and ever, alan rayner suggests that if you was to take a tree and was able to totaly eliminate, as it stands all biological material of the tree you would be left with the same outline in ghostly mycological relief, due to the fact that fungi are so, colonised within its system they effectivley are the tree. There is a limit to how big how tall and how heavey one can grow as a tree, genetics, biotic forces and nutrient avaliability within reach of your also limited root explorations. without fungi, the tree would not have the facilities to go on indefinatley, retrenchment would not be as feasable and the biotic forces of nature woukd bring about the end of a tree far sooner than is cleary the case. So fungi, in so many ways, even some of the supposedly major decayers are in fact not only assiting the tree but giving it the potential of eternal life, which from the fungis point of view has considerable benifits! "if you give me food and shelter, i will give you imortality and in turn also have eternal life" it is a very benificial and mutualy rewarding situation.

i would agree entirely with the above statement no questions, the wild woods are a rare feature of our landscape these days. one only has to go on the hunt for "true neglect" to know that virgin habitat is a rare and very beautiful thing. veteranisation techniques are our way of filling a major gap in the generations of wild vetwerans, whos life cycles and prosceses of decay and dysfunction are part of a diverse range of niche habitats that carry very complex communal and progressive life cycles. each random act of nature provides a home for a specific form of life, and if we were to continue forcing nature to be pretty, all would be lost in a century or two more. Wether you appreciate the imensley complex life of the deadwood habitat or not, fracture pruning and veteranisation is the only way to "enhance" these habitats. i do however think we need to use some discretion in the use and place of these techniques.