Gary Prentice

'Harry Enfield' and 'joy' have never gone together for me!

https://www.treeoftheyear.org/ETY-2018/Uvod.aspx I don't think this has been posted yet, apologies if it has. I voted for the Gilwell Oak, simply because I remember the tree from forty years ago

Not even a ported one?

Can she register the land in her own name and then instruct you to fell it?

A little hydraulic leak, due to the side anvil mounting plate shearing off last year. The dent in the casing, which was okay back then, cracked last week. Not a difficult mend, apart from the dismantling involved to get to it.

17 was the last count I saw.

Could always fell that one, in the interests of scientists research of course

That's a cracker!

I'm sure there's a magpie sitting on a couple of eggs in there somewhere..

Have you heard/met him before? He’s very, shall we say, entertaining! I got introduced to him by Mick Boddy a few years ago. Definitely a character

I think it's available to listen to later

Ok, back to the original question. A tracked machine passing over the RPA (for want of a better term) may exert a very low ground pressure compared to a human foot, but as soon as it turns and shearing forces are created it's a whole new ball game. You haven't missed anything and are correct that ground protection is needed, unless from observations on site and using knowledge and experience you could justify otherwise.

I think that their is a totally different mindset in Africa and 'affording' large families is very low on the list of reasons to reproduce.

I don't think this has been posted anywhere else yet? Fungi on 'In Our Time' - Radio 4, 09.00 this Thurs 15th http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09r3nwl

Are you suggesting, that for the greater good, that people should be left to starve? As I said earlier, it's a complex situation. Millions of pounds of aid never reaches its intended recipients (local corruption/large salaries within the charitable organizations etc), populations continue to rise because birth control is projected as a bad thing, the list goes on. What's the answer, should western countries take over these countries to manage them? What would be the political fall out if the USA took the lead in that? There are no short term solutions, but in the meantime, people are breeding and starving.

The New 'Marc Bolam' version of the Bible... Out soon?

Someone published some ground-pressures for different plant sizes on another forum. Pounds per square inch, less than a pedestrian in a lot of cases. Be careful with comments like low footfall, certainly with vehicle passes the first pass can cause the damage, subsequent passes then compound that. What are you actually trying to demonstrate?

First off, I think that it's great that there is thought and discussion about the effects and relationships between trees and fungi. Anyone posing these types of questions is indicationing a their thirst to gain knowledge in the whole science of arboricultural. So I wouldn't take offence at anyone rebutting your ideas. I haven't followed the link you've posted yet, but your extract paraphrases Matthecks t/R ratio (and we all know the arguments about that!) I'd argue the hypothesis that 'trees don't expand energy fighting heartwood decay', in that they have very limited means to do so, Heartwood/ripewood is non-living, so the defence mechanisms are limited to the chemical barriers already present. They can't create defensive walls against internal decay, it's a physically impossible task because of the way trees grow. It isn't hippy dippy to understand, or to begin the understand, the bigger picture that all the different, symbiotic and parasitic, fungi play within the ecosystem. Yeah, it seems a big deal when a big tree that's prominent in the landscape is lost because of colonization by gano/armillaria but in the scheme of things, is it really? A few years ago, a group of us students at college were discussing the outbreak of Chalaria. Fresh with the knowledge that Ash constitutes the second most commonly planted deciduous urban tree in the UK, we concluded that it was a disaster. Our tutor disagreed. Look at the bigger picture. 1-5% of ash are likely to be immune or tolerant to the fungus, they will survive and reproduce to create a species resistant to Chalara. Okay it might take 200 years for that population to mature, but it's more than likely to happen. In tree terms it's one or two generations, no time at all in the continuation of the evolution of the species - but to us! So if a pathogenic fungus cause a early loss of probably less than 5% of urban trees, does it really matter? Would time be better spent managing the tree stock better, pruning less, creating smaller wounds, preventing root damage by utility installations/highway contractors, planting more tree (more diversity/age classes) and creating a better understanding of tree needs and benefits generally? I'll get off me soapbox

I think that the situation is a bit more complex than just throwing money, in the form of aid, at the problem and expecting everything to change. But, do you just say it’s your fault because you’re not controlling your population and let them get on with it?

Enough already!

My defence, M’lord? Some bloke on the Internet said....

Shall I get your coat?

I only knew that after watching a TV program about potatoes

Can an unqualified client sue the client? I thought they only bore responsibility if they employed a contractor who injured others