Gary Prentice

It's more or less everyday something like this is reported. Barstewards!!

Some bloke posted this about them a while back; An abstract from the online Cambridge Journal, from a bulletin of Entomological Research by Nigel Straw. Dieback and recovery in poplar and attack by the hornet clearwing moth, Sesia apiformis (Clerck) (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) "A survey of 801 poplar trees in central east England in 1999 demonstrated a correlation between crown dieback and infestation by hornet clearwing moth (Sesia apiformis), induced by a period of drought in 1995–1996. To determine whether trees colonised by S. apiformis would subsequently deteriorate and die or whether they could recover despite infestation and damage to the stem, all trees in the original survey were re-assessed in 2001, 2003 and 2005. The repeat surveys showed that trees with 70% or less crown dieback in 1999 replaced their canopy and generally improved by 2005, irrespective of the numbers of S. apiformis in the stem, whereas trees that had 75% or more crown dieback in 1999 either died or declined further. The presence of S. apiformis did not prevent tree recovery, and there was little evidence that infestation slowed the rate of recovery. Populations of S. apiformis, measured in terms of the numbers of adult emergence holes visible in the base of the trees, decreased between 2001 and 2005 at the same time as the amount of dieback visible in the canopy of the poplars markedly decreased. However, the fall in numbers of emergence holes at this time reflected a decline in larval establishment 2–3 years earlier, and indicated that the moth population had responded to a more rapid restoration in the internal state of the trees, which was not reflected immediately by the gradual replacement of dead branches and reduction in dieback symptoms." You can 'rent' the entire article for £3.99 for 24hrs

Been a good opportunity to work out the causal factors as to one tree failed and the next stayed up. The willows on the previous page had a footpath about a metre to the windward side. The path was a compacted gravel with some fines, only around 150 mm deep, but enough to inhibit root growth. Looking at the stumps today it was possible to see where roots had changed direction on reaching the path, creating a small root extent in that direction. Interesting stuff.

Whats the story with the tree in the background? Consented for a 10% reduction?

Times are tough, then? My Christmas Jura is almost out, back to the Jack.

That's what, I think, most experienced and knowledgeable climbers do, confident that they could argue their case if the LA got haughty. It's hard to apply specific measurements to a limb or tree if there is no suitable union/fork to prune to.

So you do mostly felling work?

But after the fact, how long was the branch/tall was the tree to start with? I had a notification for a 20% reduction of a 4m tall yew sent back by Manchester Council - refused to validate, once. How tall will it be after reduction? Like they were going to go and measure it , but them's the rules..

I see! Self medication with something like a good Malt?

More what?

If %ages were used in the application, surely the LA (being wise to BS3998) would have refused to validate it

I think that this is a really good reason to allow smoking inside all buildings, it’s obviously dangerous to go outside for a fag ( can I say fag?) due to the risk of getting injured by falling trees. Edit. The above comment is maybe too light hearted considering the owner’s condition. Obviously, I hope that he heals from his injuries and doesn’t suffer any long term consequences. I wish him well and don’t mean to cause offence

There's a clone off the M6 up near the Lake District.

What happens if you feed it off the battery but don’t supply a separate return to earth?

Is there a risk that in warm winters, when everybodies sales are down, no other supplier runs out. (Plus kiln owners don’t run out)

I say that the auto electrician put a new wire.... That was his explanation to me. Whether it was a bit more involved, with another wire to ground, than that I don’t know. Most solenoid coils I’ve seen are two wired, but I don’t know if they all are. Does the wire come live when the ignition is turned on?

Why have you had to replace the solenoid three times? I had a similar issue with my L200. If the glow plug light didn’t light when cold or flick on then off with the engine warm, it wouldn’t energise the stop solenoid. Auto electrician put a new wire from an ignition switch live, to the solenoid. Sorted the problem.

So these have now been potted up for around four weeks. I didn't make any attempt to prevent/reduce fungal spores in the propagator or whilst preparing the cuttings. Something is developing on the cut surfaces of the 'leaves' and shoots - I'm not sure exactly what it is (bacterial or fungal) or whether it's colonizing the resins and/or carbohydrates resulting from the cutting. Any suggestions on an anti-fungicidal treatment? On the up side, the apical cutting is still looking good. The tips of the leaves progressively died back after a few weeks, but this now seems to have stopped.

Or you could ask Vesp...

Lots and lots of cypresses went over, to be expected with their persistent foliage, but quite a few broadleaves. Wind speed must have been significant at times, because I saw a few sound trees whose stems had just snapped.

Increment boring's invasive, therefore damaging, so a pedantic tree/planning officer 'could' view it as a contravention. sometimes invasive techniques are necessary, as the lesser of two evils, but to establish whether a tree was <x number of years/not protected, probably wouldn't cut it. TBH, I think you're in a precarious position. Measuring trees and relying on statistics to estimate ages. The growth rates/annual increments don't need to err by much to put you on the wrong side of the law. What I've done successfully with a wooded area TPO, is to write a management plan for the woodland and submitted that. If it's based on good practice, demonstrates that the aim is to provide sustainability etc it shouldn't be a problem. The LA is happy, the trees are under good management. On the other hand, felling trees that you 'think' aren't covered without knowledge/consent/involvement of the LA may just raise their level of concern and raise a Woodland TPO anyway. Depending on context, sometimes it is best to have them on board.

Strictly speaking, using an increment borer could be considered as a contravention of the TPO

I'll have to have look at the prevailing wind factor. It just puzzled me a bit yesterday, trying to establish in my mind the various reason as to why particular trees had failed - some quite dramatically (two willows on five cars)

I've been looking at a lot of failed/uprooted trees in the last few days. Some were foreseeable with decayed root systems, some explainable. due to restricted rooting areas, but a significant number appear simply to be due to wind forces exceeding the soil cohesion around the root plate. Although wind speeds were high, we've had similar or worse over the last twelve months, often when the soil has been waterlogged. Locally, soils are reasonably dry, but the subzero temperatures have caused the moisture in the upper horizons to freeze and I'm wondering if this had been a factor - reducing cohesion? Thoughts or experiences anyone.