Treeation

It looks like copper plum, 100mm of wood chip/mulch under the canopy footprint will alleviate compaction from digger and is generally a great thing to do for any tree as adds nutrients, improves soil aeration and moisture retention. You could also add maxi crop fertiliser which is an organic fertiliser made from seaweed extract. Should be able to get it online

What sort of quality are u after? Hardwood cord? Of are you happy with softwood rings?

I wouldnt rely or necesarily trust what a customer tells me in relation to tree tpos or con areas, theres a lot of confusion around the matter. As a professional your job is to check the legalities so i always check myself before i undertake a job and sometimes before i have even get to site to quote. 5 shires gives sound advice on how to check for restrictions.

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Hi all, Stark times ahead and being in the tree business we are pretty landlocked to what we can do arboriculturally speaking. Anyone have any serious ideas how to lessen the blow? My approach as a SE sole trader running mainly domestic arb work and tree surveying has been to: 1. Keep my website/google business updated with ongoing changes due to coronavirus to let my customers know what we are doing and when we will next update. 2. I have made it clear that we are very much open for contact via email and telephone calls - Although a lot of people wont be spending now, they will be spending a great deal of time in their gardens so might have questions re. treework and it will be possible to quote/estimate some jobs by photos & emails/videocalls...which at least sows the seed for possible future work. 3. I am offering a video call arb consultancy service on an hourly rate for larger projects payments to be made via BACS - god knows if Ill get any interest but nothing to lose. 4. If we cant invest in our businesses, invest in your knowledge...get those tree books of the shelf and get learning now is a brilliant time to build on your knowledge base. I have been really enjoying brushing up on Mattheck and Lonsdale. 5. Will be looking to Sorn works truck and to see how onging payments can be managed. 6. Keeping a keen eye on SE deal through government. Hope this helps to some

Hi all, Stark times ahead and being in the tree business we are pretty landlocked to what we can do arboriculturally speaking. Anyone have any serious ideas how to lessen the blow? My approach as a SE sole trader running mainly domestic arb work and tree surveying has been to: 1. Keep my website/google business updated with ongoing changes due to coronavirus to let my customers know what we are doing and when we will next update. 2. I have made it clear that we are very much open for contact via email and telephone calls - Although a lot of people wont be spending now, they will be spending a great deal of time in their gardens so might have questions re. treework and it will be possible to quote/estimate some jobs by photos & emails/videocalls...which at least sows the seed for possible future work. 3. I am offering a video call arb consultancy service on an hourly rate for larger projects payments to be made via BACS - god knows if Ill get any interest but nothing to lose. 4. If we cant invest in our businesses, invest in your knowledge...get those tree books of the shelf and get learning now is a brilliant time to build on your knowledge base. I have been really enjoying brushing up on Mattheck and Lonsdale. 5. Will be looking to Sorn works truck and to see how onging payments can be managed. 6. Keeping a keen eye on SE deal through government. Hope this helps to some

If heave is a serious threat, I believe you should contact an arboricultural consultant first to assess impact of removal and to assess the trees condition so you are able to make an informed decision as there could be quite a lot at stake and for the cost of a survey to be undertaken it would be a good investment in my opinion. It may be a reduction in height say 40% will stabalise the tree and reduce the likelihood of failure considerably without having any heave issues but bear in mind the ongoing costs of re-reducing in hieght say every 5 or so years..judging by the a picture I would suggest a ball park figure of £300-£500 to reduce in height and remove green waste from site although access and regional variations need to be considered.

There seems to be limited eveidence that anything other than a huge crown reduction would have an impact of decreasing root growth...this would kill the spruce anyway and look horrendous

Spruce are forestry trees and grow absolutely huge...annaul expansion of the base of the trunk will be pushing the wall in 10years or so....wrong tree in the wrong place

Sever at stump and winch out against the direction it has fallen. If it wont budge, climb and remove offending limbs and then winch again

Looks like a spruce to me and will grow a lot bigger than that in height and girth and root system will keep growing. Probably best take it out.

Thats what I thought at first looks at bark but if you look careully theres some epicormic coming off the trunk which made me think hardwood and the wood looks Nothofagus to me...that pinky colouration....

Im not totally convinced but maybe its Nothofagus?

Be useful to whip that ivy off the stem so we can get a better look at the crack but looks like it could be a fairly substantial defect. From what I can make out it looks like the tree leans away from the building in the pictures and is weighted towards the other canopy trees so most likely to fail away from your porperty? I cant imagine removing this one tree which looks to be a spruce with a fairly light crown would have a significant impact upon its neighbours in terms of increased wind exposure. Unless the neighbouring trees are growing physically into it and thereby providing natural bracing support. My advice would be to get a professional tree report by a tree surveyor/consultant then you have something concrete to present to the tree owner. If he then fails to react to the recommendations of the report and a tree failure occurs causing damage he wont have a leg to stand on in court. Could be money well spent at this stage.

How much was the other quote? £800 sounds like peanuts to me. Presuming they expect you to source chipper and extract wood to roadside?. Yes pics needed.

I dont think its honey fungus. looks more like sulphur tuft.

Why are the roots a problem?

I think Betula pendula (our silver birch in uk) has a fairly poor response to coppicing when they get large and old and bear in mind its a pioneer species which naturally is short lived (approx 75 life span). Your birch sound like there might be in natural decline already as you say the tops are dying back so there energy levels may be lower than found in younger specimens Id consider 1. Looking for a clues to the likeliness of them reshooting from ground - i.e is there any basal shoots/epicormic growth present on any of the trees - if there is - this gives a clue that theres more chance of a good vegetative response. 2. Possibly doing a tester cut with one of them - cut one close to ground but leave stubs to promote the amount of potential dormant buds left to sprout. 3. Try and assess the overall health of each tree and chose a test piece thats in good health, but also make sure there is enough light hitting the stump as birch are light demanders and the remaining canopy in the surrounding trees needs to be considered as some coppice stools wont regenerate in dense shade 4. To improve growth response, avoid cutting following a drought year so as not to cause anymore drought stress. 5. Im not sure if you have pressure from browsing animals where you are but if you do its essential you protect the coppice stool in the first few years after cutting or the delectable regrowth will be munched on a yearly basis by opportunists. We have a large problem in the UK with high popultaions of deer and rabbits so we quite often have to manage this to be succesful with coppice regeneration. Other option to consider would be to consider felling and replanting thus starting out again. Would be cool to see some pictures of the grove!

Very cool ideas! And well made films - well done

Looks awesome. could ask what the cost was to cover from slabs to floor boards...cheers

The only time I dont like my kombi system is with extension pole and hedge cutter section and using it horizontally - generally I try and avoid doing that any way beacuse it kills your back but it can save you having to set up with ladders the other side of hedge and having to do top from both sides....but this is when, and maybe its the flex or maybe drive shaft a little worn out now, it can have problems powering the trimmer which can lead to frustation and extra exertion trying to sort it out on top of a ladder.

Yes definetly get one...i. Got the big stihl kombi - gets used so much... Got the strimmer/trimmed/chainsaw attachments

Id go with the british native Alnus glutinosa - genetically suited to british conditions and best for wildlfie potential

Im sure if you took some end weight off before the snow kicks in you could get many more years out of the limb could also tether with bracing if there targets below

Not sure its all doom and gloom. 1. Who will actually be policing this? I imagine unless there is an accident or insurance claim to cater for,or you are working on a high profile site many climbers will carry on using their prefferred methods that they have ample experience and skill to do so. 2. In the hierachy of using the 2 rope system point 3 says. "If, as a result of a risk assessment, it is determined that it is not reasonably practicable, or would entail higher risk to persons,* to achieve points 1 or 2, then one system installed over one load-bearing anchor may be used." Im sure a lot of climbers are capable of making their own risk assessments whilst assessing the tree initially and may well chose this option. 3. Although a 2 rope system might be a pain in the arse at times it may be quite useful in certain trees especially with spready trees such as silver maples or where there isnt a nice central leader to anchor to, or if cimbing sketchier trees in decline/ ash dieback, dead uns etc....