canadiantreeman

Man...I almost forgot, but Jeremiah Johnson with Robert Redford would most definitely be my #2 pic. Great flic, and the vengeance montage is fantastic!

The Outlaw Josey Wales...hands down. I fell asleep in True Grit, twice. Couldn't even finish it. I liked the John Wayne version better.

That's a great idea for an adventure! I can't wait to see pics.

Awesome. You going to stay up in a Baobab overnight for its flower display? That is definitely on my bucket list.

apples and oranges... Whoops, posted late. I'd love to give the SJ a try. RW on single line is definitely on my to do list, though.

I like this thread. I've got a big one ready to go from a pine I wrecked out earlier this winter. Just have to wait till the venting index is ready to go. I'll try and remember to get pics. I'm Dylan btw, its nice to meet you folks. Classy establishment.

Hamadryad, that was an excellent post! Great insight, thanks.

Dynamic cabling, as I understand it is the use of such systems as the Cobra or Tree Guard. I'm sure you know what I mean. I will, however, try and take a picture of some of the ones I've either installed or seen around here. The point I am trying to make is that one might not need to perform a reduction to the higher percentages some of your examples show, if done in conjunction with cabling (bracing is new to me as a term for it, so forgive my ignorance if we are not talking about the same thing). That said, if the client wants the tree reduced as heavily as some of your reductions show, then its getting reduced. I consider the ash tree a few pages back, which was done well and I do fully understand the reason behind hitting it that hard. But, if we are to understand that maximizing leaf area will allow the tree to better deal with the stressors acting upon it, rather than pruning it to such high percentages, one could lower the dose and install cables to support some of the major scaffolds one might be concerned with after a given inspection or climb. Like I said, I understand the need to reduce trees and in some cases to the degree that you have shown. I just wonder if adding cables to the mix will allow us to retain more photosynthetic material while leaving the tree better able to produce the necessary energies, starches and carbohydrates that are required for compartmentalization and the resistance of decay organisms.

I'm impressed by your work, hamadryad. Give me a few years practice and I might have the eye and talent for reductions such as yourself. It appears, I would say, that your knowledge of decay organisms and the relationships with trees appears quite sound. I think the bar is set quite high with your examples. Now, I'm not trying to blow sunshine where it ain't supposed to go, but I agree with the sentiments regarding reductions being a fine management practice for urban trees. I think one of the things our more 'by the book' peers fail to mention is the shortened lifespan a tree has when its owners despise it. If the owners of the tree want either a smaller tree or no tree at all, then the tree is gone by the standards of someone who doesn't have the sales ability, knowledge and skill to provide a proper reduction. I simply refuse to believe that either leaving the tree alone and not doing anything or removing the tree are the only options here. One thing I noticed while reading this thread is while the opponents of the practice were quick to condemn, no alternatives to the situation were offered, save leaving the tree alone. This is a self-defeating proposition. I have had great success in my area selling reductions to people who wanted their trees either gone or hammered. It is an effective management option, and done properly, an art form. One thing I noticed though, was that there has been virtually no comments regarding presenting a client with the option of utilising dynamic cabling in conjunction with reduction pruning in order to either expand the maintenance interval or to perhaps reduce the amount of photosynthetic material removed in a given interval. I like installing dynamic cables, I have seen great results (and had less frikkin wire go through my fingertips) from its use, and have also been tinkering with the idea of simply building the cost of cabling into reduction pruning. Thoughts? Great work, and good on ya for sharing it. Dylan from Canada, eh.