sloth

Any combination could be honest and feasible. I think it boils down to what the client hopes to achieve, their budget, and finally giving them options rather than saying 'you need to do this or that'.

Search 'hamadryads book club'

For the record, I don't wish nor think it is feasible to save every tree and 'hold its hand' till there is nothing left of it! But, ecological conservation should be at least considered when recommending work. If a client likes the tree and would like to keep it as long as possible, it is wrong, in my opinion, to recommend felling (because as a tree surgeon its what you do and you have a free day next week) and hold back other recommendations that could allow retention, because your wallet wouldn't benefit from it. I'm not saying this is what you do, but many many contractors do. I think you may have misunderstood me. I don't wish to undercut or undermine anyone's business. I have my own overheads and goals, and price accordingly, regardless of what a potential clients previous quote was. I agree we must all stand firm on our prices, those going stupidly low simply won't last anyway. I got the impression that the 3.5k was to survey 'some beech trees' to advise on their safety and retention potential. I don't know how many trees, but that sounds a lot. 3.5k to do work on the trees however may well be reasonable. Cores and fractos aren't always necessary or first choice in hazard assessment, and their price will vary from one to another. However there are normally options for further clarifying perceived hazards in trees, and many options for managing them. Options which are often ignored (in my experience) by many contractors, and which result in people reluctantly having their trees needlessly felled on the advice of tree surgeons who they trust know better than them. I wondered that too

Oh, of course

Coprinus sp. Perhaps atramentarius

£3500, what for?! A condition survey on a beech tree or two?! Scandalous... I hope this thread has the desired effect, and that anyone looking to find ALTERNATIVES TO FELLING their trees which they would rather keep, finds help here. It is quite a rare tree which MUST be felled for safety with no options for retention. (For a fair bit less than that price too!)

Nearly 1/4 kg nuts, a block of butter, almost 1/2kg sugar, 1/2 a jar of honey, spiced and condensed into 8 inches square of filo pastry- delicious, though possibly heart attack inducing... Ok so I didn't make it, but I did take it out the oven!

It looks to be doing well. I'm a little surprised the twig at the top is still alive, though not much growth for seasons. Was the larger twig going of to the left damaged/removed, or has it died and fallen? Perhaps it was a drain on the limited resources available to it and sacrificed so smaller twig could grow on...

I was under the impression that only Armillaria has plates of melanine, and that those of, for example, Kretzchmaria consist of other compounds? Also, is it only the xylem that is converted to melanin? If so which constituent of it, and why not other wood cells? Where's Gerrit!

A good outcome how much of an engineering/building background do you have, just out of curiosity?

That what I thought. It seems silly to go all out testing soils at the off set of the planning/design process, an unnecessary expense. A better option would be to leave pi tests etc for the engineers; test soil ph etc where there is to be planting (when its decided where it will be); and use best judgement of where long term areas of compaction etc may have affected the distribution of roots for rpa purposes. Could be included in the detailed AMS perhaps?

Were they your trees, or tpo/conservation area? That is very poor

Lovely old tree, leave well alone

Looks good, what material is the handle?

Interesting site on the ecology of a place named Conmanster, if you've time to kill... http://www.commanster.eu/commanster.html

Salix sp. (caprea?)

No. But... Loler applies to more than just climbing equipment, any gear that holds you or equipment off the ground is i think covered. The guy who took my mewp course while Loler inspecting cherry pickers has seen cracked welding, missing or loose bolts, disabled safety devices etc. This could well have prevented accidents. I know most of us can check our own gear and are happy with that, but Loler does have a place in preventing equipment failure related accidents, and some people just don't check their own gear, blind faith in it guides them!

Cheers all, some good views

What is why?

Does anyone have any views on what level of detail the soil assessment mentioned in section 4.3 needs to go to? It says undertaken by a competent person to inform rpa tree protection planting design foundation design to take account of retained, removed and new trees. Does this mean the rpa can be adjusted for some soils? Shouldn't it be the designers duty to check soil for suitable foundation design? What if there is to be no new planting? Should samples be taken across the whole site, or just an average area of soil? Is it even necessary to include it in a single residential extension planning application? Sorry for so many '?'s, contents of your picked brains to follow hopefully!........

Could be...

A phellinus or stereum spp?

So what do you get for a grand? I have virtualy no experience with mapping software, is it easy to use?

Wishing him well, 200ts can make a real mess. If he's made to a&e, chances are he will be ok. Amazing what the nhs CAN do!

1 for Rob... With this at the base for an easy bonus