Gary Prentice

You can buy a phytophthora test kit for less than a tenner. Honey fungus is another possibility, but I think it's less likely.

I'd be a bit more concerned with the Kretzchmaria deusta in the first two photos! The tree looks to be attempting to adapt to the Ganoderma in the sinuses, looking at the incremental strips/growth on the buttresses

I've just received a communication from a local planning department, invalidating a recent application for the following reasons. 1) We would require a location plan to provide clearly where the trees are in relation to the Tree Preservation Order, also they would need to correspond with the actual Tree Preservation Order. Firstly, I've provided a site plan in the application, clearly showing the property and the location of the trees in the garden. Secondly, I believe that the demand to correspond my tree numbers with the schedule plan is not an obligation in either guidance or legislation, and no other planning department that I've ever submitted to requires or demands this. This particular LA has pulled me several times previously on this, but because I don't believe I have to, I won't play their game. I've always refuted their demand and have have always previously got them to accept my original submission. I've had the phone slammed down on me twice while correcting their understanding of the legislation and it's requirements, and a couple of the planning officers now pass the phone to someone else if they inadvertently answer my calls. I could be a bit more helpful, admittedly, by using the corresponding tree numbers but; they've removed all TPO interactive maps off of line most councils, IME, want money to provide an electronic copy of the original TPO the planning office is twelve miles away they refuse to prove to me that the applicant/agent is obliged to and failing to do so is a reason to invalidate the application. I did manage to get to speak to a very nice lady at the enquiry desk, who after an email request immediately emailed the full original Order FOC. The original plan's from 1997, before the site was developed and a housing estate was built, it bears no resemblance at all to todays geography. I can work from site plans, topo's , old plans etc and I know my tree species. How the LA expect the average householder to identify the correct tree numbers is beyond me, and then refuse to validate when they don't or can't. I've pointed out in my response that I've submitted on average 2-3 applications a week to more than a dozen planning authorities; all the other Manchester metropolitan boroughs, two National Park Authorities, East Cheshire CC, Liverpool and Mersyside councils, Warrington and I don't know who else, but they are the only ones with this stance. Almost all of my other dealings with TO's (in or outside of the planning departments) and POs is really good. If I make an error in a notification or application, they will all usually just ring me up to clarify a problem and amend things, to determine the application/submission efficiently and promptly - I appreciate that they do and always try to make sure that whoever goes on site can identify the trees and the works properly, so an invalidation like this really peeves me. Is anyone else being forced to correspond their tree numbers?

Purely unintentional Stubby. I visited a property a few weeks ago and quoted to fell a sycamore, small hawthorn and a leyland cypress along the rear boundary (inside the boundary fence). Lads rang up after starting to say that the neighbour, to the bottom of the garden, had come out to say they were his trees and that he wanted the cypress to stay (screening) but he didn't care about the other two. He claimed that he'd erected the fence previously and had relocated it because it was easier to fence his trees out (and into some-one else's garden) than to fence around them, being right on the boundary. The client was at work and unreachable. Her mother, in the house, was all for carrying on and felling the lot, but did admit that she knew the fence had been relocated. My position in this situation, was that the trees still belonged to the neighbour and we'd be on the wrong side of the law to fell anything he wanted to keep. Someone argued that he'd lost ownership by fencing them out - I can't see that that can ever be possible until the owner of the adjacent land had used the 'found' land for twelve years without contest and then she'd have to claim it through Land Registry as well as accepting all responsibilities and liabilities that that entailed. Anyway, we only ended up doing the work the legitimate owner/tree planter agreed to and not all of the work we'd been originally instructed to do. I also spoke to our TO about a group of beech that a homeowner wanted to cut in half . They're situated next to boundary of the householder on a small area of land leading to a public open space. Land registry shows no ownership of the plot, but the LA maintain the pathway leading into the POS. Our potential client has enquired for several years to the LA about the trees and they've denied responsibility. Talking to the TO it seems that the small 'unowned' plot probably should have been included within the registration with LR when the LA took over the POS when the original mill there was demolished by a developer and the entire site was split into individual building plots and POS that the LA then took responsibility for. The LA are now doing a land-grab and taking responsibility for the trees, so they can explain to the homeowner why they won't 'reduce' these mature beech

You couldn't remove it under the common law right of abatement, only that part that was actually over the boundary. Nice try

Thanks for that Jules, I'll follow up the links later. I'd spoken to a few people about the probability of the stump actually coppicing with a thought to utilise any new orthotropic shoots, as I,ve never experienced that. No-one else had locally. We ground out the stump a few days later , so I'll never know! I did find one adventitious/epicormic shoot on the stem, before felling, that I considered harvesting for propagation, but it was in pretty poor condition so I decided against it. With a bit more time, it may have been worthwhile, or at least interesting to have attempted to encourage activation of dormant buds as the article mentions.

If you're making money - the LA want part of it I think the term they use is occupying the highway, how this is different from a householder or visitor legitimately occupying a parking spot, I don't know. The annoying thing is, I've found, that to fully comply with highways regulations means losing the job to someone who'll risk less than adequate TM (and the financial implications) creating more risk to road users.

I’ve got Dirrs, but it’s packed away. I don’t think MP is in that because I did have some seeds a few years back and I think I would have searched that. I’ll get the other book though, although it’s a bit late in the day to be finding out what I should have done

Dipped in powder, 24hrs after cutting. Reason for the delay was some advice to allow resin to form a layer over the wound before planting. I’m not sure if that was good advice or not. The lack of a clear cut methodology is frustrating. High humidity, but not too high, water from the top or the bottom - mimicking seasons etc wish I had more than three cuttings to hedge my bets

I’ve a very recent example of altered fence lines, and the consequences, which I’ll post later.

Jules, Damn, I had to cut the pots down to get them in that propagation unit, which is bottom heated - I read that requirement somewhere. It would, likely, have been so much easier from seed. I’ll give it a month or so and them move them into deeper pots and take the cover off, keeping the heater on. I dont know, but suspect that they would develop a different root growth habit than that from seed, possibly with no defined tap/strongly vertical root(s)? Then again they may just die! see what happens...

It’s not so much that the client wants a MP, he wanted that one. We investigated transplanting it, at a cost of thousands and the risk of failure, but access restrictions between sites prevented it ( we were even considering helicopters to move it at one point.) The tree had to go despite some very personal/emotional attachments to it, so a successful cutting (no matter how small/slow growing) would have great meaning. Im willing to spend a little time and effort, knowing what it means to the owner. Even it is a fools errand

Thanks for the link, I had seen it (But I did do a lot of internet searching already) There isn't a great deal of information out there, most of its about growing from seed.

And of course, you don't see any problem in that?

So the gardener from Bolton is also an expert in dendrochronology, why am I not surprised. Of course you'll be conversant with literature such as this; https://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/fcin12.pdf/$file/fcin12.pdf , as well as the ancient practices of pollarding that were used in the Royal Forests and Chases pre-Norman times?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortingall_Yew https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llangernyw_Yew

Nepia, do you mean susceptibility of the germinating seed or just generally? I know of a couple of people who have grown from seed but then plants to frost, which seems a bit strange considering their native range! I'll leave the vent partly open and try to remember to watch the compost, the bottom heat soon bakes it.

Okay, so no-one has tried, vegetatively? Rightly or wrongly, I've cut to apical shoot into three, hoping to improve the odds of one striking and stuck them into a under-heated propagation unit. Should I be venting the unit, or keeping it closed to increase the humidity?

Who to believe

But you're old and retired!

Does he still walk funny?

You were a scout

Another benefit reducing the use of disposable plastics

It's been a while since I got got converted to the old fashioned safety razor (still haven't mastered the cut throat). I wish I'd converted years ago - closer shave, no shaving rash, quicker and so much cheaper. Noticed a pack of Mach 5 cartridges in the supermarket yesterday, at £2.15 per cartridge. I just bought 50 safety double edged blades off of fleabay for not much more than that.

Some terrific trees & photos David