Boo Who?

So my Treemotion is wearing out. It’s had five years of service and it needs to retire.

Most likely going to replace like for like because I like!

However I’d like it if someone can explain why the evo has two bridges.

If the were to be used independently I could begin to understand using with two lines etc. but the demo pictures all show it with one ring around both bridges so I guess this isn’t their intention. Any ideas?

...if not I think an alpine butterfly is the way to go. Once the know is tight it won’t slip in either direction, so if you tie it and dress it towards the beads, then cinch by pulling the loop outwards it will sit snug at the top of the bead.

Is it single or double strand down through the beads?

How are you attaching it to the clip?
Does it not make sense to start at the loop end, put in a figure of eight on a bite, tie knots between the beads as you go and then tie on the clip with a knot that cinches it all up, cut and melt the ends..?!

They sucker and self set readily without chopping the mother tree down too, there just needs to be one and the right conditions and every garden in 100 yards will have a carpet of them coming up!

Alianthus altissima : tree of heaven by the looks of it and the fact you say there are a ton of them!

Here’s my tuppence-worth:
Coppice the two stems you want gone down at ground level. Often we leave single upright stems on coppice stools in the wood. Yes it is leaving large wounds at the base of the other stems, but if it is an old coppice, which it does look like, there will already be an amount of dead wood in that region from previous cuts.
Ideally you would have done it over winter when the tree was dormant, but to do it now the remaining canopy cover will help supply energy for the tree to compartmentalise and resist infection.
When making the cuts go higher first, and then do a finishing cut in at the desired location to prevent tearing down the sides and try to leave the finishing cut as clean, smooth and square to the stem angle as possible. Ideally this will be level with the top of the root flair on each stem.
... and do your very best not to overcut into the stems you intend to retain as you do the finishing cuts!

Back in the woods yesterday, thought I’d get a picture. These are pretty much all sycamore, and most fully in leaf, but this one holding out for some reason. Seemingly healthy tree, buds are green but only just starting to swell. There are several in the woods all the same..?!

It looks like a sycamore to me - go for a wonder around the woodland and see if and how many others are still only just starting to flush, I am sure there will be a few.
I’ve been working in a woods the last few weeks and have been watching - there is a wide gap between all the trees of each species within the woods from the first tree to burst to ones that are still waiting.
I was wondering if perhaps these are single sex trees that are holding on, but haven’t got around looking into it at all yet

Looks to me like it has been poorly planted, as the taper at the base of the trunk isn’t quite right. There isn’t any root flare, has the ground level been altered? Or perhaps it spent too long in a pot before it was planted and was buried deep to try and compensate for poor form. But also the lean looks to be due to suppression by the larger dense maple behind. It has grown with a lean chasing the sunlight, but it looks like the main leader is now correcting itself and taking a more vertical route. I’d keep an eye on the ground at the base of the tree and check for movement or a gap opening between the trunk and soil, but not worry, it seems to be sitting itself out.

Very nice. This week is the first week it hasn't rained where we are. No mower would have been able to get onto any lawn around here since end of September, the wettest feb in over 100 years mud everywhere. So you must be somewhere with really good drainage and much better weather. 
 
Nice lawn by the way. 

First cut was between Christmas and new year. Did the 5th on Friday - shame it’s not mine!

Can anyone suggest why this tree is oozing sap all over up to about 15feet and then it just stops.

The entire lower tree is covered in small droplets of sap almost on every square inch of bark. It is not large runs of sap, just wet to touch as the droplets are on the bark, but then as you can see in one of the photos it just stops, level with a set of branches and the top of the tree seems to be unaffected?!

Like those, what's relief carving?

Cieem is their professional body, perhaps they can help, or have a forum... ?!

My tuppenceworth...
1=Lawson cypress
2=cherry
3&4= holly

Pruning wounds always make a tree more vulnerable. The bark is there to maintain the tree as a sealed entity, as soon as you break that seal you open it up to potential disease and pathogens.
Depending on the general state/ vigour of the tree before pruning you can guesstimate it’s chances of fighting infection, plus you can reduce susceptibility by pruning smaller diameter younger wood that seals itself off quicker. If you don’t need to do it right now maybe put it off for a year or two. Either it will get dieback anyway and then you only pay once to remove it, or it will continue to grow naturally until remedial work is essential.
It seems he was being reasonable trying to protect both the tree and your pocket...!

Any ideas?

Internet has come up with one article in Denmark, but doesn’t ID it...

Im aware of fascination in the form of twig flattening and proliferation of buds in ash... I’ll look into that, but not convinced it’s the same. I was thinking gaul of some sort perhaps?

Any ideas what is causing these bulbous growths?

Connectivity doesn’t appear to be lost in the tips until they become quite substantial in size. They are relatively heavy in comparison to their size. Middle of live ones is dark brown and larger growth rings, dead ones appear to have radial cracks within but not in the bark.

The tree has them throughout the crown in varying sizes.

Anyone know what it is and recommendations to prolong the life of the tree?

Pruning them all out would leave the canopy very sparse, but as I said not all are causing dieback.

you won't get volume reduction, but buy a field and dig a massive hole (by hand of course) and transport the arisings to the hole by horse and cart, then thow them in,. When one hole is full, dig the next one. If the field is big enough the stuff in the first hole will have rotted by the time you run out of space

Its yellow meadow ants...

Discover the amazing anthills at Coombe Hill

WWW.NATIONALTRUST.ORG.UK

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Chalk grassland is one of our rarest habitats, and a reason why Coombe Hill is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The large bumps on the steep west-facing slope are the nests of the yellow meadow ant; a tiny insect that builds large anthills that provides a diverse range of homes for many of these species of wild flowers and animals.

Manchurian walnut perhaps...
Where is the tree...uk?

Looks like a sad little walnut to me...
Serrations don’t really make huge sense, but perhaps not juglans regia. Looks to have been hacked back though, so larger leaves than normal, plus the distinctive smell does add up.

If you are only on 19k I’d say feel free to give it a go.
Do you have desires to be a climber or would you be happy working on the ground, stump grinding etc.

I started climbing at 32 with a years experience felling in the woods. I started on £75 a day as a chipper bitch with the intention of getting up a tree ASAP!
I’ve made the most of the opportunity given to me and 5 years later I am lead climber and on £35k.

If you find the right company then there is opportunity - but climbing isn’t everyone’s game, and definitely has a limited life span...

Just expect to feel like you have been hit by a bus at the end of your first full week dragging brash!