Chris at eden

I have a windows surface which is ok and cost £279. Pros - Ms office built in with word, excel, etc. It connect and stays logged into outlook so not logging in and out which I like, it has a proper USB port unlike iPad so you can connect a flash drive and a pay as you go WiFi dongle direct. Never tried the latter but I'm told it works. Cons- screen is a little over sensitive, the operating system wont run some programs including Norton. You can also get a little keyboard to clip on and turn it into a laptop but don't but the official one as they are 80 - 100 quid. You can get a Bluetooth version from amazon for 30 quid. My wife has the iPad which is a better machine but more expensive. Better security, no over sensitive screen, and you can get an app call quick office to convert Ms office files as well as a keyboard.

I've been off the tools for ten years so this is second hand info. I was speaking with a tree surgeon a few weeks back and he was raving about the husky top handle. They were a bit fragile back in the 90's but he said they overcame this.

Sumac

Could juniper scale.

You miss the point mate. I spent ten years working as a tree officer, five of those doing tpo's so I kinda know what you can and can't do. The regs are the regs, and best practice is what it is. It doesn't matter what the TO is like, he/she doesn't in reality get the final say, the PINS inspector does and they will always go with the regs and best practice. Just trying to help.

To be clear. Don't take that that you can just do anything. Stay within 3998 and give clear and meaningful reasons.

What are you looking to do? TPO work is all about spec. Spec it right and justify and it v difficult to refuse.

Saw this demo'd in may in Cannock Chase and was surprised how big the drill holes were and close together. From what I remember dealga said it lasts up to three years or at least that's as long as trials have been going. What's the effect of regular drilling around the base on something with poor wound response (Codit) such as hc? are there no plans for a soil drench alternative which is less invasive?

Betula as a genera are pioneer species in that they are the trees that colonise baren sites early on the then become shaded out by the larger climax species as part of woodland succession. You would therefore expect to see them in scrub land. albosinensis as the common name suggests is from China. Not aware of occidentalis but the name suggests its from America. Its not surprising that wildlife groups are unaware of these trees as they are ornamentals and not best suited for wildlife. If you want to supply habitat as well as coppice material sitick to native.

Betula albosinensis

Oh yeah, Bartletts have also just brought out a stem injection treatment for HCLM using a treatment called revive i think. They recon it lasts for a minimum of 3 years based on trials. You cant apply it or even buy it yourself without training though. Lantra are about to release a new L3 qualifiction to administer the treatment so you would need that first. Cheers,

Agree with Tony on the bleeding canker and leaf miner, drought also possible. Bartletts have had some success in treating bleeding canker by use of decompaction and potassium based fertilizer. Pottasium phosphite i think specifically. Theory is that the HC does not know its being attached so does not defend itself against the bacteria. The use of the fertilizer kick starts what Glynn Percival refers to as a systemic induced response. The tree then goes about attacking the disease. The benefit of the treatment is that it addresses many issues. Honey fungus and bleeding canker are both associated with sub-optimal soil conditions so this treatment can help prevent either and certainly treat the latter. Also mulching beneath the dripline after threatment should also help improve the rooting area and help with the drought if this is an issue. Improving living conditions for the tree should increae the production of energy and refuel the defesive rubber band as Tony refes to it. More energy available for the production of allellochemicals and phenolic compounds = trees better equiped for defense. For more info see Bartletts website, they have papers on the this treatment and some interesting research into using sugar to improve root growth. Hope this helps,

Sorry mate but i dont agree. Fair enough if you rule out shrinkable soils at the start you dont need much else. but if your s and d map says the soil is london clay then you have to look at other factors. if you are talking about heave then most importantly age of tree and building. foundation depth is also hugely important. They are all parts of the same puzzle which no doubt you include in your mortgage reports. They all add weight to your decision also.

Have a look at the below guidance, it will give you an idea of what is required. http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/FCMS024.pdf/$FILE/FCMS024.pdf In reality you have already carried out informal observations and a formal inspection and as you cannot quantify the extent of the problem you should call in a qualified arb to do a detailed inspection. It may be difficult to remove one without the other but the longer you leave it the worse it will become. On the up side they look pretty sheltered which will reduce the risk, but even if you lost both it wouldn't have a huge impact on the area and the space created for a replant could be considered as tree renewal.

It is a legal requirement that all TPO's are determined within the statutory 8 week period. If they don't you are entitled to lodge an appeal with the planning inspectorate. (PINS) At this point the PINS will take over the application and determine it on behalf of the secretary of state. The first thing they will do though is write to the council saying that they have received an appeal. The will also tell the council that if they still wish to determine they can and to advise PINS if this has happened. The council may then determine the app or leave it to the PINS. Either way, speeds thing up. Remember CA's is a notice not an app so rules are different. If you wish to fell a tree under exemption due to it being dead or dangerous the 2012regs states that you must submit your intention to the council giving them what is called a five day notice and this must be done in writing. If the danger is imminent you can make safe immediately and inform the council later but the burden of proof sits with you. Photos definitely a good idea. This approach should be a last resort and five days is the norm. And remember the exemption is to make safe, this may not always be fell. Hope this helps.

Think you may be onto something with the height reduction bit as whenever you see elm regen on the road side it seems to be fine up to a certain height then gets done. Not convinced by the oomph bit though. Trees use two types of energy, potential and kinetic. Potential is that stored within the wood in the form of carbs. Kinetic is energy in motion being used for growth, defence, etc which is created by photosynthesis or the oxidation of potential energy. The removal of branches would remove potential energy and reduce the rate of photosynthesis due to less leaves. There would also be an increase in demand for energy as the tree would need to compartmentalise all of the cut surfaces. The combination of these three factors would mean less surplus oomph in my view.

I know of an LA that has area orders from the 60's that pre-date entire housing developments. No idea how they have worked out which trees are which bit I think they would have an issue with enforcement. The plans are just open fields.

Hi Tony, You thinking management of mass/energy ratio?

Agree with all. The eccentric position of the cavity would also suggest a lean with the production of tensile resistant reaction wood on the upper side. If the crack occured after CODIT wall 4 may have been breached.

I'm not 100% sure as i did mine years ago but i think PA1 is a foundation module and is more about handling and storage, legislation, etc. PA6 is one of the application modules.

What is the tree like? Is it suitable for a tpo? LA's sometimes have a lot of old tpo's that don't meet the criteria, especially area orders.

Does it look like root damage? Do the cracks run radially back toward the tree? is the tree on the same piece of land or neighbouring? Tree root size is directly proportionate to the size of the above parts. Big tree, big roots. Root depth will depend on many variable as stated previously. Soil type and structure, species and genetics, surrounding environments. If this is a civil dispute where the neighbouring property is being damaged remember the level of proof required is 'on the balance of probabilities' for a successful claim. This means that if there is a 51% or even a 50.1% chance that the tree is the cause, then the complainant would most likely have a case for damages.

Bit of both really. I dont agree that crown thinning is useless but i take your point that people often carry it out to a poor standard or excessivly but i just would not call this crown thinning. In a similar way i would call the complete removal of the canopy on a mature maiden tree, pollarding. i also agree with your comments about it being pointless if you want to reduce sail area. If they want to remove deadwood then a light thin would acheive this. Ultimatley is suppose it will come down to what the client wants and generally they usually want it to look different when done which is not always the best thing for the tree. cheers,

Removing an excessive amount of foliage or lion-tailing is not crown thinning!!!! It is clearly staed that there is a maximum amount of leaf area to be removed within 3998. If work is carried out outside of this then this is not thinning. We as an industry have a written spec within a currnt British Standard which describes what pruning is or should be. If trees are thinned property the resultant increased movement of the remaining branches will increase taper and help the branches become more optimised. Also, anyone advising thinning to reduce aerodynamic drag clearly has not read the standard. This does not work and is again stated in 3998. If deadwood is removed from the tree along with crossing and duplicated branches (what used to be called crown cleaning), and then the pruning is matched across the canopy, then how is this not a ligt thin???? Unfortuanatly not everyone works to best practice and those that dont cannot be considered to be arborists.

Aaaaaaaaah, and i went for it big style!!! Gary from the Syston group? i have a couple of weeks to do on the IRP and it should be ready for 1st sub. I've also got to re-sub that assignment on hollow trees again, for a third time. apparently i'm still evalutiing the method and not the theory!!! cheers for comments on website. it needs a bit of work i think. its too wordy and the photos are on a 16 meg camera so take ages to load. need to shrink them but not sure how. I also still ave a lot to learn about SEO. computers not my string point.