Chris at eden

Where are you based?

Hi Dave If you search on Google enough you will probably find a comparison table but you will probably need to go through the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) rather than our RQF. I've had a quick look and they seem to have 10 levels whereas we have 8 plus 3 entry level at the bottom making 11. This splitting of the entry levels is a relatively new thing though from what I remember. Brought in when the old QCF changed to the RQF. The higher quals look relatively straight forward. L8 - PHDs are L8 in UK and L10 in NZ. L7 - Our L7 appear to be split in 2 over there - L9 for MSc and L8 for Post grad dips and cert. L6 - BSc is L7 in NZ. L4 and L5 - Higher education dips and certs in UK - these appear to be L5 and L6 over there. This leaves 4 levels at FE. This is probably equivalent to our L1, L2, and L3, plus the entry levels. So yours I would think would be either L3 or possibly L4 over there. This is just my opinion as I have only looked quickly. What is your L3? Cheers

What he said!!! I've tried PDAs and tablets and I'm not a fan.

Me too.

No maybe about it mate - spot on I would say.

Yes but HC is more prone to decay than say oak or beech. Mid summer is best as low spores and high response from the tree. The wound response of deciduous trees during winter is pretty low. That said, tree surgeons prune all year round and what is the impact really? Also, HC will probably decay anyway irrespective of what time of year you prune.

2nd for that one.

If it doesn't sound hollow it probably isn't so I doubt a picus will help much but it will sound different as the wood has a high moisture content. You wouldn't base fell or retain just on the info in the photo. What is the target? What is the vitality of the tree like? What is the exposure? Wetwood is usually insignificant unless there are canopy symptoms or other issues present. If you are unsure then by all means get it inspected but I wouldn't personally be breaking out the expensive Picus test at this point. Cheers

Sorry meant to say the white is when the forced sap dries out.

The black / orange are the exudates from the wetwood causing bacteria, the white is when it dries out. Pseudomonas bacteria which causes bleeding canker in horse chestnut is one of the main causes of bacterial wetwood but there are lesser known bacteria associated also. The presence of the bacteria within the wood raises CO2 levels which in turn increases internal pressure forcing out the sap - hence the wet appearance.

Bacterial wetwood most likely. The white is the dried out crust of the exudates.

Couple of issues raised in the previous comments: 1. £480 for 18 trees seems a little steep. Mortgage and insurance reports are the second most common type that I do after 5837 and I wouldn't be charging anywhere near that. MWA also advertise their costs and their costs and their mortgage reports start from £240 + VAT. It would take no more than an hour to survey 18 tree for a mortgage report and maybe 2.5 hours to write up. 1/2 a day in total unless there is a lot of travel involved. As I said, seems a bit steep. Maybe there is a finders fee for the insurance company. 2. Another point raised is the inclusion of offsite trees. This is a must to be fair. I you have a large offsite tree within the zone of influence for subsidence you cant just ignore it as this would be pretty negligent. It could still cause damage. That said, a dead apple tree has no potential to cause subsidence so they would be talking general risk from failure. The recommendations should be the same for offsite trees. If it needs to be felled then that is what it is, you cant say they are exempt as the are offsite. I always say to refer the works to the owner, if they want to take on the risk then that is their choice. You should also make the distinction if the risk is to users of the garden and not the house as I doubt the mortgage company will be too concerned about this anyway. I've been writing reports like this for some time and have never had a problem from banks or insurers so move on to another insurer would be my advice. I would also shop around for prices in future. It may be that the tree consultant is based miles away which could affect the fee. Cheers

Hi Guy Reading your previous threads the 1 day course would be well below where you are at so I would go for the 3 day PTI course. I found it useful but quite a bit is based around UK legislation. Cheers Chris.

Hi David I did mine about 10 years ago and so it had an expiry date. This came up when I did my L6 dip as you can APL one of the ACs if you have PTI. I was told to phone Lantra by Dave Dowson and they would send me a new cert. I did and they did. Not really in the spirit of CPD but they will send you a new cert if you ask. Cheers Chris.

Yes that is fine, so they can reduce a crown thin from 30% to 20%, or a lift from 5m clearance to 3m clearance for example. They can't significantly change the application though. So the example of changing from fell to reduction is wrong in my opinion. They should consider the application which is in front of them, not change it. One TO did say to me once that reduction was less work than felling but I don't personally think that is what is intended by the legislation.

You cant change fell to reduce on a TPO either so no idea why they would be saying that!! No doubt some numpty would be saying reduction is felling to a lesser extent but that is nonsense in my opinion.

Think you may be confusing domestically grown apple trees with a commercial orchard. A 211 notice is required it stem dia is >75mm.

I was sent one of those a while ago and just dropped in the past to the client with the covering letter. As Ed said though, there is no requirement to notify. Its certainly not standard practice.

Hi Tree It is for mobility you are correct but there are different measurements for different circumstances. The act is DDA or Disabilities Discrimination Act 1995. See the following link. Its a compliance programme that the Highways Agency produced a while ago. I've never read the whole thing but there is a section on pavement widths. http://assets.highways.gov.uk/specialist-information/guidance-and-best-practice-dda-compliance/Highways_Agency_DDA_Compliance_Programme_-_Design_Compliance_Assessment_Guide_DDA_Training_Spring_2010.pdf Cheers

20% offset went with the 2005 standard but the 20% incursion into the RPA for hard surfacing still exists.

Think you just answered your own question there mate. Anchorage. If the tree falls over it has no potential to recover. Plus you will have fibrous roots on the inner RPA anyway and I would imagine its easier for a tree to regenerate small roots than much larger ones. Not saying fibrous roots are not important (so I probably worded it poorly) as they clearly are but, would you rather recommend removing 50% of the fine roots or 50% of the structural roots? What do you think would be more damaging? To be fair the removal of 50% of the structural roots would automatically remove way over 50% of the fibrous but I'm going off piste now. My point was that if you trenched around the RPA that would probably remove 50% of the fine roots based on roots fanning out and becoming fine in that area. I have no source for this its just me speculating to respond to the other post. Other opinions may differ. Cheers

Tree roots extend up to 3 times the tree height apparently, I forget the source. Based on this the RPA probably is 50% loss of the finer roots but importantly it retains the larger structural roots.

Piles for a housedeck are installed by hand with an auger. Strip footings outside of the RPA are done with a mini digger. Its a none standard construction also and has to be designed by an engineer.

The one I was involved with was a whole new building. Not an extension. I still think piling is easier but I'm no engineer so I leave that to them to sort out. I remember he had a photo of a building hanging over a waterfall to show what was possible. Very grand but expensive no doubt.

It was for a previous job so don't have the details but just Google image it, you will see what I mean. The benefits over piles were mainly cosmetic, it looked cool.