fagus

I have been in US Moonshine area. It is banned as it avoids tax. It is dangerous as it can blind; methanol and lead poisoning is possible from the still components used.

Cutting the Cotoneaster flowers off must be time consuming, there are usually lots on. Never heard of that.

Surely . Poison Oak is Toxicodendron diversilobum and Eastern Poison Ivy is Toxicodendron radicans , they are not the same though can be mistaken for each other. I have hiked a lot in the US and asked to be shown Poison Ivy at the first opportunity so I knew what I should avoid. It is pretty innocuous looking in the young form like young Hedera climbing for the first time.

If the trees are that good I would notify the LA and not do the survey. Don't think you should do both.

I am with Rushes, it is not in a good location- grass and paving intercepting water ingress. It is always going to be a poor doer. Changing the surface near it to a largish mulch circle would help but if it starts to thrive you might not want a bigger tree close to the house,

I am going with Snake Barked Maple.

Certainly in new designs, including industrial sites, comments have to made at the planning and highway stage to avoid narrow roadside verges; but get those green spaces aggregated into large public open spaces away from the highway. These large opens spaces can take larger forest type trees which make a decent landscape impact; and leave the Cherries and small ornamentals for the house owners to plant in their gardens. Roadside verges are also zoned to put service pipes /cables in so tree planting in narrow verges is not possible leading to a poor urban a streetscape.

Acer Pseudo plat "Worlii".Yellow sycamore. Could well be Pinkfoot; but the leaves are so pointed from the images I can find. Does the type vary?

Verticillium wilt is likely. I think it is a Maple but would need to see/know more about it to be certain. Does it colour up a lot in the Autumn.

I wouldn't buy a property with problems so +1 for walk away.

Rib cartilage tears take their time. You could get a sports therapists view, they are used to getting sportspeople back a.s.a.p. and are sympathetic to that aim. It is a fairly common rugby injury. I have done it skiing- it is a bugger sneezing .

Anything with DEET in it should deter ticks on humans; Smidge is supposed to be good for bugs in general.

Give the guy a duplicate dated receipt for zero £ the wood.

Likely to be in the LA's standing orders that a lowest bid is accepted unless there is adequate reason; using a MEWP on H and S grounds might be such a reason. In this case it must have been considered unnecessary to go away from the norm. Accepting higher bids can lead to accusations of favouritism.

Apologies to those who know this but it always helps if you photograph twigs with buds on them; bud formation on the twigs i.e alternate, opposite or spiral helps with ID. Even in winter scratch around underneath the tree for a dead leaf-that also helps. Tree ID can be serious issue. I once assisted at a hospital to identify a tree twig/fruit. A young girl had eaten the fruit and was thought to be poisoned. I identified them as ornamental crab apples. Stomach ache but little else -though many apple seeds(possibly 200) can be more serious.

In the US when hiking I have had to hoist my food sack into the trees to avoid bear predation.I thought no problem I have done this before at work. Add in that the guidelines say over 8M(25ft); 100M from your campsite and no trailing cord that the bear can pull on. Immediately suitable branches are hard to find and when you do succeed you are not as tall as you think you are and cannot reach the cord. Yes there is every chance the throw bag comes back and hits you in the face; and worst of all you cannot easily find the tree your precious food bag is in the next morning. I have shared Snicker bars with squirrels as the bear bagging does not defeat them.

A bit to know to give good advice i.e how well were they planted. Is there an irrigation pipe to get the water to down low to where it is needed; were the trees planted bare root or from containers/rootball. If they were well planted with good drainage overwatering is unlikely in two weeks.-so a few watering cans twice a week; especially as they are coming into leaf. This is what the RHS think, I am an ex Wisley student. Insufficient watering in the first two years after planting is the main cause of poor establishment. Remedy: Check moisture levels around roots with a trowel. If the soil is dry watering, to soak the root zone, requires at least the equivalent of four watering cans per square metre. Weeds, lawns and other vegetation intercept water before it reaches the roots. Remedy: Keep a circle at least 1.2m (4ft) in diameter around the base of the plant that is vegetation free for three years after planting, using hoeing, weedkillers or mulch. In hot, dry weather, plants lose moisture very quickly. Nearby trees, shrubs and hedges can cast a rain shadow. They also have thirsty wide-ranging roots, leading to greater watering requirements than expected. Good luck, nice trees.

David H, thanks for politely pointing out it is now Jelly Ear.

One thing to consider is pension provision. Although final salary based pensions are less common, LA pensions are sound. Many self employed have work till they nearly drop to keep a reasonable lifestyle. However if you are not happy working a lot of years just for a good pension is not good. Too easy to buy a new chipper and put off contributions to your pension fund.The state pension is not adequate to live comfortably on

+1 for Jules's post. Poor work is poor work;report it you have done your bit then. Let the TO and the LPA sort out the priorities. Poor tree work stands out as big as advertisement hoardings thereby advertising the work and the unqualified think that is ok for my tree.

I have used this way for some time on my hiking twig burning stoves. I have hiked several months in the US; they have saying there-Whiteman fire all smoke, American Indian fire all flame. Evidently the American Indians used to say- If the Whiteman knows so much why is his fire all smoke.

I am not in the grammar police; however to give the right impression tree reports require correct spelling and punctuation. A suitable App can help. Just saying.

The digger clip made me laugh out loud; somebody thought it was a good idea at the time. Twas doomed from the off, good they were all ok.

Hi Marc, I am fortunate to have spent quite a bit of time in the US.The idea seems fine to me. I prefer the Oak to Hornbeams although the Oak at 15 foot might be a bit close- depends on how good your foundations are i.e size and construction,soil type. At that distance it would certainly overshadow the property at some point.Though I note the lawn slopes away from the house so the Oak position is not critical. However it is not so easy for UK based people to comprehend planting trees to give property shade and avoid excessive heat which might be what you seek long term.

Witches Broom, If you are a real good propagator and can graft this broom growth can be used to get dwarf conifers. It is possible it has been done on that specie of spruce already.