SDDavid
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Everything posted by SDDavid
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Originally qualified to level 3 extended diploma (Distinction), I have been self employed in partnership with my wife for the last ten years, undertaking residential tree and garden work. I have since gained a Foundation Degree (Distinction) in Arboriculture with the aim of moving towards more consultancy type work. I am very happy to discuss any vacancies you may have that you feel would be suitable. I hold a full, clean UK driving licence and live North of Belsay in Northumberland. My name is David and I can be reached on 07799 383011; if I am unable to answer, please leave a message and I will get back to you ASAP. Thank you very much.
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I live in Northumberland and might be interested in taking your stem. Msg me.
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As the title says...Planted a fairly large, (4-5m) Acer rufinerve for a customer last year, at which point it seemed very healthy and was apparently sourced from a reputable nursery. This year it has failed to come into leaf, and while some buds still look healthy, there are dark lesions all over the stems and some dieback, I think it's probably Verticilium wilt, but i've yet to cut a stem to check for discolouration. I'm not particularly familiar with this pathogen; as it's a recent planting, is it likely to have been infecte when purchased? I ask because the customer paid £700 for the tree, and is understandably unhappy. I know the disease spread from the soil to the roots, but there were, and are, no signs of disease in other plants in the area. Thoughts please?
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Ranger. Had mine a year now and can't fault it. 2008 model with 81k on when bought, paid £5k. A right deal. Got it from an finance underwriter in Newcastle. Have seen them come up with reasonable mileage for less than £4k. Try and get one with the plastic arch guard kit fitted.
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Get the pro's in. Nice herbaceous border by the way!
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I'll try and get over there in the next day or two and get some. Couple of the tree in it's entirety, and a close up of the affected leaves/twigs say?
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No burn patches, will try drenching it though, anything's worth a try at this point, though the gradual nature of the tree's deterioration makes me wonder whether the problem may be biotic rather than abiotic, though i'm totally stumped regarding possible pathogens.
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Used to usea Silky Hayuachi, until it got nicked. Excellent, as was the Sintung lopper head. Couldn't afford a second one, so bought the Stein set-up. All good, in fact the Stein lopper was perhaps even better, bnut the blade is poor in comparison. It is possible to buy an adaptor though , to allow a silky blade to be attached to the Stein/Jameson poles, (which are identical, by the way) Hope this helps.
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None of those things apply here i'm afraid. The only environmental factor i can think of is perhaps chemical treatments used on the lawn that surrounds it. There are two other Birch in the vicinity, but they are situated in flower beds which extend as far as their RPA's, while the one in question is surrounded by lawn. Also, i have noticed that they are shallow rooted, even for birch, though there does not appear to be any mower damage-no roota are actually right at the surface. Are Birch particularly susceptible to chemical fertilizers? or might it be poisoning from any weed/moss treatment possibly mixed in with the product? As far as i know, the customer has used regular lawn treatments for several years, with no problems up until now. Is some kind of cumulative effect possible?
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Bump. Could really do with some help with this one guys. Customer is very concerned and other than continuing to monitor it, i've no idea what to tell him.
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This case hasn't had such a dramatic onset as yours and it only seems to be affecting discrete parts of the tree; even so, i'd really appreciate it if you find out anything. I'll try and get a piccy or two to illustrate what i mean.
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Around 15-20 years at a guess.
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I have a customer with a small number of Betula sp. in his garden, utilis and pendula. One of the pendula started to show signs of die back throughout the crown last year, together with browning and some shot-holing on the leaves on affected branches/twigs. At the time i suggested that as it didn't look too bad that we should just keep an eye on it. This year the die back has progressed; although tyhere are dead twigs throughout the crown, it is worse towards the bottom. Again there are browned leaves on some shoots; it looks like they flushed OK, but then died. Elsewhere there are signs of shot-holing and browned edges. I have looked through all my books and searched the net, but with no luck. Anyone out there come across similar symptoms and if so, what is the prognosis? Cheers.
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Also retrained in 40's. 46 this year and finished my advanced diploma a year ago. Now have a thriving horticulture/arb business, though still growing and learning all the time. You're never too old. Just keep your self fit and strong and stay careful and alive.
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Gustharts sell Modern Arb. for £57. Got it in stock at the minute, i think. They've also got the new editions of the Research for Amenity Trees 'Diagnosis of Ill Health' and 'Principles of Tree Hazard Assessment' in for £42 & £44 respectively. Check out their website.
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Thanks again guys . Thinking Honda, given that wee have a dealership on the doorstep. No one seems to have anything bad to say about them?
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We live on a farm and have the occasional loan of six foot Ifor, which is useful, but could do with one of our own. So much to buy! And customers wonder why we have to charge what we do. It would be a lot cheaper in just about every other trade; still, we love what we do.
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Sounds ideal for our present purposes, though i think a larger deck would be better. Am starting to think Honda is the way to go. Thanks.
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Yeah, canopy has pro's & con's. Locks knackered so doesn't aid security in any case, but was pretty feeble when it did work! Most useful foe keeping the weather off other bits such as electrically powered hand tools and so on, and also enables us to cram in a lot more rubbish if we've been required to take it away from a job. I can get five bulk bags of crap plus tools in the back, even with the crew cab. We started out the hard way with nothing more than a Volvo estate, second-hand hand-tools and assorted horticulture and arb/forestry diplomas, so the extra capacity the Ranger and Truckman provide has helped advance us no end. Onwards and upwards! Saving for a second hand chipper next.
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Appreciated. Budget is limited, only been in business for a couple of years or so and am still buying bits of basic kit. Up til now, most of the investment has been in arb gear and the new truck. Pretty much built the business on a shoestring. While i don't expect professional performance or build quality from a £650 machine, i would hope to run it for perhaps 3-5 years. I wouldn't expect it to be required for more than an average of 5-6hrs/week. If i find that i get more grass-cutting work than that, i'll consider upgrading to a truly pro machine, but for now i don't feel it would be good economics. Thanks to all for the advice, exactly what i was looking for. A Happy Christmas & a prosperous New Year to one & all!!
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Yeah, pick-up has a Truckman fitted.
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Sounds like a toss-up between the Viking and the Honda then. I live near to dealerships for both, so i'll go have a closer look. It'll be transported around in the back of my pick-up, so it would be useful if the handle folds down easily. I assume that both options allow this? Would the Viking, with it's narrower deck, be suitable for the size of lawn i would be cutting, (around 2000 sqm for the largest of the four)?
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Thanks Kev, it sounds like one to consider. I believe they're stocked at Gustharts up the road, so i'll investigate.
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I don't generally cut many lawns, but have a new contract including four areas of lawn totalling around 1.2 acres. All are fairly well maintained and flat. i hope that a modest investment might enable me to not only complete this contract, but also offer the service to other customers. So far i'm looking at Honda and Rover. Any advice would be much appreciated. Sorry for any repetition, but i've looked at other threads and can't find any info that really helps. Thanks.
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I charge £15/hr for both myself and my partner. We're both highly qualified gardners as well as holding extended arb diplomas, and in the case of my partner, she won the Chartered Institute of Horticulture's Young Horticulturist of the Year (North of England) 2015 and came 5th nationally. We would find it very difficult to charge more despite this. All our work is on recommendation, we have never advertised. After costs we're lucky to make £8.50/hr.
