Tommy Hutchinson

Yes i will happly keep the site informed, I will have the outcome of the plan today hopefully.

Here is the video Watch "TEDxExeter - Polly Higgins - Ecocide, the 5th Crime Against Peace" Video at TEDxTalks Sorry if I have gone of topic.

If you love that you will love this as well. I will post just the link for the overview it explains in depth the Ecocide Act. Ecocide Act – Eradicating Ecocide

"How compacted for how long? You must examine roots and soil--do they have soil probes at the school, or just bulldozers?" I will be asking some questions about soil probes, and yes there more bulldozers than "tree huggers" here. As for how long soil compaction has been going on for i would say good 50 years of heavy compaction may be more.

Thanks again for your response/s. You raise some interesting points, that may be we have not looked at enough in depth here on the level three course. I am out of my depth in the solutions for this tree, and the “where to look” and “diagnose” the tree (I wont be after the project is finished). , but it’s all a leaning curve and I love it It takes alot of experience to take on these jobs. If I had not stood my ground and thought for this trees health, the college would have just gone on regardless. We have a someone coming in from East Devon Tee Care called Matt Shute to help with a management plan and I can safely say that we are in safe hands, as he has an in depth knowledge of these kinds of situations. Its hard to tell what was put down in the top soil probably hardcore and rocks plus loads of un organic "stuff". The tree has survived well. But I fear for its future. Here are some more pictures of the damage.

Thanks for your reply. It helps. The tree is in full leaf and seems perfectly healthy, but there would be no sign of decline for a few years though, as the tree has plenty of energy reserves for new growth. They have dug around 8to10 inches into the soil so they have disturbed/destroyed roots and the soil has been compacted for a long time. The college I go too are short of parking places (thats why the lime! gravel was applied) and a compromise has to be made. So we cannot close of the whole area off. We are going to protect the base of the tree creating a small root protection area for a short term solution, but the long term plan may be to place down CellWeb Tree Root Protection System (depending on price). Yes I have accepted the damage and the college realise they made a mistake, but the college sight is classed by Natural England as “an area outstanding beauty” and the college need to respect the trees and take full responsibility for the trees as there are no TPO’S because the college have been entrusted by the local council because of there Arboricultural, Horticultural and Forestry staff, to maintain the trees/plants on the grounds. As an environmental college they need to relise how inmportant trees are to the environment and I would like the college to learn from this act in a proffesional Arboricultural way, so I am looking for the best solutions for the future health of this tree. As Lucombe oaks are a newfound hybrid from around 130 years go they have no predicted life span yet so from a tree enthusiast point of view it would be good for me to set in motion the preservation of this tree for a number of beneficial I do not need to explain here on this site.

Why has no one replied to my thread ?

This Lucombe oak Quercus x hispanica “Lucombeana” has been subject to damage, recently they scraped away a large area of soil and replaced it with lime gravel. Not only did they dig through the trees fibrous feeding roots they also damaged the buttress roots. The damage is not life threatening but is still unaccptable. This tree has adapted to its environment over the years and is a fine species of Lucombe oak, it has seen a road built right though its root system and lots of damage to its base. What’s the best way to insure the future health of this tree? •fence of the area and aerate the soil with a air spade and then add healthy soil bio char (this area would cover the gravel section of the area you can see)?? •should this tree be left, as it has adapted to its environment and more damage would be done if the above methods were to be used? The adventurous root would of now spread beyond the crown spread but that there are still roots that need helping and could help this tree more by protecting and creating a healthy humus and topsoil soil layers. At the moment they just want to protect the base of the tree, but Arb professionals I talk to say that Aeration, adding bio char and may be even mycorrihza inoculation will help this tree. Here are some pictures of the situation. In the first picture you can see the gravel area, this is the area that could be fenced off.

Soil, fungi, structural weight placement, gravity e.t.c there are multiple factors all working together that influenced the failure of this tree. I have cut some lovely burs and old wounds that had heeled over from the tree will try and sell them for a small price. 

There are know signs of dead bark indicating Honey fungus and oosing, also no signs of ductile fractures of the root which is a character of Honey fungus. Fistulina hipatica and Grifola frondosa working together may be ? also Meripilus may also have been a contributer?

Intresting fungus check this read out. Forest Pathology - Oak Wilt

Why did the tree have to be removed? What is the reason for being tied in to the crane on the last cut?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW2UvW6xLP8]Trimming Trees from the Sky - YouTube[/ame]

When was this? Did he do a talk?

Do threads last for ever ? Do threads need an expiry date?

on another note, Wookie who are you ??? Joel ?

Yes we managed to drop the rest on the ground on Wednesday, 250 years wow i never like to see them fall but at least this was natural. Bicton College has lost some special trees in the last year:).

Yea it is a shame we could not use it for timber and it would of been a very productive area for habitat establishment but the college where the tree is situated is to busy.

I am not sure if the shake helped the tree fail I think the main reason was root failure due to fungal infection. I have posted earlier in the thread about shake.

The shake ran all the way through the stem to the top.

It looked useless for planking but i am no expert in this area.

@ Ashes Firewood, Advice on how to separate the root plate from main bole ?

This is a new area of study for me but i will try my best. There are many types of Shake Wind Shake, Cup Shake, Radial Shakes, Ring Shakes, Frost Shake e.t.c these shakes cause the trees to split/separate along the radial and circumferential planes in a tree. There are a number of environmental factors such as general damaging agents frost, wind, fires, heavy machinery e.t.c and also old structural defects that occur in the trees structure or basil wounds e.t.c. In this case the tree that we worked on had radial shake and it seems that Quercus/oak is the most common tree species to be affected. It is a major structural issue as the trees compartmentalization defense system cannot just wall it off like a fungi . Once a shake starts in the tree its there for the rest of its life. Its a serious problem for timber merchants the wood is useless. Tony, no fruiting body seen and i have not sent any samples off to be tested. I may well do this if i have time.

Wow amazing photos both equally as beautiful.:-)

Thanks Joe your input is so professional you are clearly a "GREAT" arborist. I wish i could be like you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!