David Humphries

Good update Personally I think even the dead standing ones should be considered within the management plan. Those are the ones with greatest biodiversity value for habitat. Is there no scope to move them from the avenue and resurrect, or habitat pile them somewhere else on the estate? .

Yes it would have been interesting Gary, but having talked to a couple of people who have done this on veterans, I get the impression that CF is quite difficult to ascertain over and within a complete canopy on older trees. Too many variables, like leaf size, sun and shade leaves, root section vitality etc. Probably better suited in monitoring and maintaining newly planted or young trees. .

Standard 5837 based on the dbh We would have liked to have gone x15, but space for excavation and other ground works meant we were pinched back to minimum RPA. .

Just the initial hack job, so far We intend to go back up and assess the condition and connection of the epicormic sprouts. .

An shots of the stem and gills? .

Ha, good one .

I read the news today, oh boy........ It's a very small, relatively insignificant lump rock spinning through the vastness of space and time The small world news from about 10 years ago "If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following: There would be: 57 Asians; 21 Europeans; 14 from the Western Hemisphere (both north and south); 8 Africans; 52 would be female; 48 would be male; 70 would be non-Christian; 30 would be Christian; 89 would be heterosexual; 11 would be homosexual; 6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth (and all 6 would be from the United States); 80 would live in substandard housing; 70 would be unable to read; 50 would suffer from malnutrition; 1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth; 1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education; and 1 would own a computer. When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent" Quote from: Phillip M Harter, MD, FACEP Stanford University, School of Medicine Would be very interesting to see how this stacks up 10 years down the line .

A veteran field oak (image from 2014) that was showing signs of decline and natural retrenchment due to a number of successive drought years coupled with the local soil type and topography. As well as the natural decline, the tree roots were about to be subjected to threat of compaction due to a forth coming large construction project that was going to last for 2 years. We decided that a canopy reduction and root protection area was in order to try and mitigate for the potential stress. The construction project ended last October and the tree looks to have come through it ok and is now reiterating a denser canopy. .

Howdee Mick First thing to consider is that I'm not actually advocating other arbs should do this. Secondly, my work predominantly comes from an urban woodland conservation/environmental Arb perspective, not front/back gardens or streets. I'm sure I've said this earlier in the thread, but 'fracture pruning' is somewhat about the aesthetic within the environment that it's being carried out in. The technique can be utilised to mimic the way that tears and fractured branches occur in natural woodland, open space settings. It's also fairly clear that this is in part, an indulgence and about what I and the team (and some others) through interaction with leading arb thinkers and reading a fair deal about this stuff, have been inspired and chosen to do (not guided by the relatively constrained contemporary Arb standards) to be able to watch trees over long periods of time (32 years on site and counting........) to see how trees alter their growth (hormone changes, reduced apical dominance, branch reiteration etc) in reaction to what we unnaturally do to them. This particular tree had (in my view) a potential weakness at the base where one of its three weak unions failed' leading to the removal of one third of its sail. The canopy required height reduction to limit the wind load on its remaining sail, which would have had an negative effect on the weakened base union. The basic act of reduction achieved that specific aim, and when you consider that its neighbours have had those 10 years to absorb a larger portion of local wind load whilst they have out grown the weaker runt of the collective canopy, (see last image in my previous post) then we've bought it some time. Fracture pruning in its pure sense is nothing to do with bats and whatnot, I think you may be confusing other techniques like 'veteranising' in that regard? Creating veteran type habitat for the benefit of beasts, bugs and furry flying things is an altogether different thing .

So nearly 10 years on from the start of this thread .

Update

Granted, the form is similar, but I think that's highly unlikely as this was found attached to the trunk at 3m height. G. lucidum is found on buttress/roots .

It's very sensitive to the family Reg, and we are abiding their wishes of not taliking about specifics at this time. Which I'm sure you can appreciate. .

It's what I was hoping to see, but I'm a little surprised by the time in terms of how long it's taken to notice the growth. The tree is pretty vigorous. .

So 5 years on from the start of this thread and there are signs of some of buttresses swelling after being released from the partially removed girdling root. .

update coming......

The stipe at the top is odd, is it possible that it has been found in an attached but drooping state? Initial thoughts would be around beefsteak, chicken or dryads saddle Scale wise, is it an A3 clip board? .

Time lapse of some of the re-build of the dams [ame] [/ame] .

Fine idea .

Very sad news to hear of Dave's passing. A valued member of our community who will undoubtedly be missed by all who knew him. My sincere condolences to his young family. .

Not entirely true Mark, but almost. Over the last 40 years in Norfolk, oak has emerged before ash in 90% of those years. Ash have been unfurling over the last couple of weeks in north London. .

So the journey for our current apprentice, Se, comes to and end with us after 20 months. He's gone from a complete novice to being ready for the big wide world of Arb. He now starts on contract work for another London Council for a few months before moving on to an advanced apprenticeship at the Royal Botanoc Gardens at Kew in September Good luck with your next step Se All the very best from the Hampstead Heath Arb Team [ame] [/ame] .

Nice work Ed, take it the hive section is being resurrected? If so I'm interested in what type of tree, how high and how far away? Handy having the arb trolley at hand for that lump .

It's not really black and white with fungi and where/what type of tissue they can be found to be fruiting from. It's about progressive degrees of dysfunction and vascular channels. Sapro's can colonise 'dysfunctional' woody volumes before those volumes are dead, so this is why you are seeing the fruitbodies on 'live' tissue. Something else has created the dysfunction on this willow, probably the previous pruning works. .

Thanks, sounds like a good spec. .