Me Tarzan

Hi. I am a rec. climber and have several mature ash trees in my garden. One in particular had some of the very top dead wood taken off about 10 years ago. Some of these limbs have shown re-growth, others have continued to die-back. Question: Is it good practice/PC to leave some dead and decaying wood in the canopy for wildlife? I was thinking maybe 1m. of major sub laterals (15" dia.). to provide habitat and food for woodpeckers, tree creepers, starlings, tits etc.. Or would this be to the detriment of the tree - maybe encourage disease? To date I have not seen any obvious signs of disease. The alternative is to cut back to healthy wood.

Some good, honest replies there. I only climb for fun and I find focusing on my immediate space helps - the stem and limbs immediately around you. Its the same at 10' or 70' (not got really high yet!) When height does come into play is when its windy. The nearer the top, the wobblier it gets! Also having lots of close, easy reach limbs helps. Big, angled laterals with few sub branches make me 'focus' a bit! It gets better the more you do and the more/different situations you face. Like the very first time took your hand off the branch and leaned back in the harness.

Impressive leaf. It looks very like Catalpa Bignoides (Indian Bean Tree). I have two of these in my garden (one purple one aurea). But they are relatively small trees. They have very brittle branches too which, with the large leaves, make them prone to wind damage, and they often come off at the union. Late into leaf (later than Ash) and early to shed.

Anyone climb with this variation on the hitchclimber system? Dan has a video: Advanced climbing techniques | O-rig climbing system And I have seen a couple of other videos. Looks good for slack-tending.

How come they don't want to plant new hedge? How do you plan to move it?

Don't know whether the ash trees in my garden know something - but they are absolutely laden with seed pods this year!

Or a piece of bike inner tube.

Thanks chaps. I just used the same cord I had used for a VT. But I like the idea of a more compact hitch - so will shorten it a bit.

Not heard of sooper cooper before. So, did a bit of investigating on t'internet. Not a lot out there but I found a few pics. Gave it a go today and see why you rate it #1. Very reliable and consistent. You wouldn't think that putting the braid 'outside' the rope would make such a difference to a VT. Not sure whether I have tied it correctly but found that having the mainline in front of the last braid (top pic) was better than behind (bottom pic). No fancy ropes - just good 'ol Marlowe.

Michoacan - I like that too. It's easier to tie than it is to pronounce or spell! especially if you have used a Blake's.

Does anyone else find a VT, with all it's wraps and braids, a bit inefficient? By that I mean a lot of the effort used in hauling on the mainline is then wasted by the time the 'long' VT stretches out and re-grips. Knut and Distel don't seem to suffer from this.

I thought my pc had got a virus.

Anyone seen any deciduous ones? Now that would be clever.

The key difference to me is in ratios. SRT = 1:1. DdRT = 2:1. (or is it 1:2?)

BBC News - UK tree expert issues 'unknown' pest threat warning