Gavint

I mean safest in terms of risk to the applicator, bystanders, pets, wildlife and damage to the environment. Herbicides are useful tools when used correctly according to laws and safety regulations, and when the situation warrants it. 95% of the time you don't need to fully get rid of perennial weeds like bindweed or goutweed, you can just mow them down and when they resprout, do it again. In cases where they must be controlled, like when you're planning on planting perennials or something in that spot you have two options: Herbicides or soil replacement. In this case, 30 mL of a targeted Round-Up application is far less damaging to the environment than the diesel fumes, CO2 emissions, nitrogen release, soil ecology damage associated with soil replacement.

Which systemic herbicide do you know of that is safer? I'd totally be interested.

On vacation in Italy, in the Apennine mountains not far from Florence in May this year. Right where we were staying was a copse of I'm guessing 600 year old chestnuts, some with over 4 m circumference. The whole area is abandoned cultural landscape, with grown over coppiced oak forestry with these ancient chestnuts thrown in for fun. They would have been used by the hill farmers as a source of food for generations. They're being encroached upon by the surrounding forest, new oaks growing up through them.

Yep - leopard moth. That's a crazy pic.

I use Husqvarna even though Stihl's headquarters is like 5 kms away from where I live. Husky tools are ergonomic and professional grade. Go battery - 2-stroke is the way of the dinosaur in small tools. Straight shaft trimmer and a pro-grade hedgeclipper, charger and 2 batteries. You're in business for under 1,5k. You don't save anything by buying homeowner grade crap, go with pro quality stuff straight away. I'm still using my first batteries, blower and trimmer ten years on.

Bindweed is a toughie. Like other perennial weeds with extensive underground root networks like thistles and goutweed, you will only compound the problem by digging. The only practical solution is a systemic herbicide. Glyphosate is the usual go to as it's the safest, but it will require multiple applications to defeat it.

Interesting topic, looking at getting a machine like this in the near future. Was at the landscapers expo in Nuremburg last week and saw a really cool looking alternative, made in France, with tracks instead of wheels, and with all the usual attachments available, Microbull from Micro-Pelle: Bienvenue sur le site micro-pelle.fr WWW.MICRO-PELLE.FR Conception et fabrication française de micro-machines destinées au terrassement, au tp, à l'élagage, au curage de boxes à chevaux, ... Click through a bit and there is a catalogue in English. Anyone tried one of these things out? They're a bit more expensive than Worky Quad, but are quieter and seem pretty robust. Love to know if anyone has experience with these machines. Apparently the market leader in France.

Hi all, I'm on the lookout for a second employee. Tons of work to go after here, I just need the help to free me up to pursue it. If you're in the Stuttgart area, or are considering moving here, maybe this might interest you. I am looking for an employee though, dealing with subcontractors is like herding cats... Right of the bat - most of the work I do for my customers is high-end garden maintenance for private customers. I do get a fair amount of tree work too though, and the odd bit of landscaping, mostly plantings, for fun. I'm Canadian, my first employee is American, and we shoot the shit in English on the jobsite. Sometimes in Redneck. A lot of the time in Hoser. I consider it a personal victory that I've got the American saying 'eh'. Customers all speak German though obviously, and I would expect you to be actively learning that language while here. Falls du lokal bist, mir könnet au Schwäbisch schwetza, der Ami au! If you think plants are cool, like looking after not just trees but the whole spectrum of herbiage, are nice and fun and work to a high standard and aren't an idiot, give me a shout! Natürlich wäre es vorteilhaft wenn du ein bisschen Deutsch reden kannst. Also credentials are great. Germans love credentials. Cheers! Gavin

Hi there, in the hope that some random person on the forum might have the info I need: If anyone is a self-employed arborist in Ontario, what are you billing yourselves out at? Is hiring subcontractors to help move projects along from time to time a done thing over there? I'm crunching the numbers to see if it makes sense to move back home. I'd want to go self-employed immediately, and would need to be able to charge a pretty high rate in order to afford a reasonable place to live there. Thanks!

Hi folks, just got mine up and running last month. I had a local advertising guy do it up for me, along with business cards, flyers and vehicle signage. Check it out: Roots-Stuttgart.de. I'm pretty pleased with it.

Hey guys, Who's got an ISA Board Certified Master Arborist ticket out there? I'm working through the European Tree Technician program, which has a direct transfer agreement with the ISA at that level. I'm looking at going home to Ontario in a couple of years, and want to know where that designation will put me in the industry position-wise, and if it could justify the move back. Is this more of a consultant/customer service/management level designation? How well recognised is it, particularly in North America? Cheers, Gavin

Hi All, had an interesting job yesterday. We had to fell two Sycamores (Planetree Maples for us North Americans) for the City that were severely damaged by sooty bark disease, Crytomeria corticale. Both trees had had a risk assessment done on them last summer, and there were no signs of the disease at that point. In the last few months, both trees experienced a massive amount of dieback, with big chunks of bark flaking off and black fungal spore masses on the underlying wood. The local Tree assessor explained that in a recent trip to Sudtirol in Italy, they have had to remove virtually 100 percent of their Sycamores because of this disease. Now, it's jumped over the Alps and is affecting trees here in southern Germany, just coming over in the last couple of years. It's interesting how fast the disease seems to work. When felling, we all wore respirators or dust masks in addition to the normal safety gear... Got a lot of Darth Vader jokes. Luke...kshhh...Ich bin dein Vater... We ran all of the branches through the chipper, and dropped off the wood at a place to be burned separately, not to be used as firewood. How bad is this thing where you are? How are you guys disposing of the contaminated wood? I wonder about chipping the wood, I guess the major danger is for the guy feeding the machine, the spores would diffuse pretty quickly in the surrounding air to non-dangerous levels. I'd like to know how others are dealing with this problem. I'll upload some photos next week. Cheers, Gavin

Definitely made in Germany, in Waiblingen. I drive past the factory two or three times a week. I've heard that Stihl has had problems with espionage in the past where almost exact knock-off duplicates of their products have come out on the Chinese market BEFORE the real saws were released in Europe.

It's got to do with the set up of that machine, it looks like it takes time, with lots of little adjustments that have to be proofed each time. With a circular saw on bigger lumber, Mark with a set square around, make your cuts, then clean up the middle with a chisel or reciprocating saw. With a bit of practice works really well, and goes quick. With that machine, you've got to clamp your workpiece down, and then clamp that machine onto it, then fiddle about with settings, for each cut. I bet making four cuts and a clean-up in the middle would be as fast or faster, done with tools you already own. If you could get through it with a chopsaw, no contest, way faster that way.

Ditto, The set up for each cut would be a huge time-waster. I could see it for really big pieces of wood, but even those can be done with a circular saw cutting in from four sides, would still be faster than setting that thing up every time.