Chris at eden

No worries.

They push the roots down. You get them on proper root battlers usually more pronounced. I did some monitoring works about 15 years ago and the chap had decided to get there early and crack on. He put the ribs on the outside. He was gutted when I told him.

Yeah, i didn't see the leaf scars at first. I'm pretty sure computer screen have destroyed my eyesight.

Yeah i know, not having a pop, just responding your question. I think it is almost certainly Swamp Cypress or Dawn Redwood.

There is another post where this is being debated John. The OP posted it 3 items. I thought Taxodium at first but I'm not sure now if those tiny makings are leaf scars and opposite now. As you say you cant see the leaflets.

They look too soft to be evergreen to me.

Bloody hell, you have good eye sight. Some of the bottom pics are opposite and if you zoom right in there a tiny leaf scars opposite the buds. Can't say that is something i have ever looked for, as you say they look different in terms of shape if you see the whole tree. I'm sticking with Taxodium but you got me questioning myself now. More pics as suggested.

Any cypress knees at the base?

Buds are alternate which rules out dawn redwood. Swamp cypress maybe.

Blue green urban. 👍

No probs, your tone didn't come across as argumentative. That sounds pretty cool. I have read a couple of Malcolm Gladwell's books, he touches on some of that stuff in one of his books. Really interesting stuff. Good luck with it.

Day rates for consultants is between £200 and £800 depending on qualifications and experience. The real top ones can make £180 an hour - I know a bloke who charges this and is always busy. Based on this i would say there are plenty that do earn top money, certainly more than the average or even top paid lorry driver. Plus, as Jules said, its a nice job. But yes the 30-40 is probably quite a few of them as not everyone is driven by the money. I'm not, i spend part of my time working for an LPA as a TO and i turn away consultancy work every week. I could earn more if i left the LPA but i like they variation. Sound interesting, big change. Novels or journalism?

So I have heard. When I did my tickets in the 90s there was 35 of us on the course, only one didn’t get all the tickets. But, it was part of a full time course with 2 days a week doing just the practical stuff. Then a week at Heligan Gardens doing tree work for the study tour. That is a good pass rate but I doubt it is that high for the five day courses you can do. There is nowt like experience.

I used to know a lad who failed his CS 39 as he cut through the branch he was standing on while the instructor was shouting telling him not to. He was both a maniac and an imbecile. ironically, the council he worked for put him through his class 1 HGV. He put his notice in the day he passed and he now drives lorries. Sounds like I am making that up but it’s a true story. He also got demoted to shrub bashing because he left a chainsaw running unattended and it kind of bounced / rattled across a school playground while the kids were out. This was shortly after he rolled a stump grinder and then rolled it in the opposite direction trying to stand it up with the truck using his climbing rope as a tow rope. There are some folk who can fail the CS units.

See below: Tree Preservation Orders and trees in conservation areas - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Cheers Chris

I didn't say what you said was nonsense to be fair. I meant college lecturers told me that you couldn't make money in Arb which is nonsense in my opinion. I can see how you would have taken it that way but it wasn't intended to come across as 'stop talking nonsense'. It was more, don't let folk tell you that. You cant convey tone in writing so stuff can come across harsh. What the lecturers really meant was that they had taken a path that doesn't pay well which is fine, there are benefits from working in a nice college environment. Its not all about money. I'm pretty lucky in that i love doing the consultancy work and as long as you are prepared to work hard it can pay well. If you churn out generic reports that get constant objections from the LPA TO then you will never build up a good enough client base to make a good living. If you put the effort in then folk come back to you. You can still make £500 a day doing 5837 work. you can make similar money doing risk surveys and more doing mortgage reports. Work that out over 5 days and 42 weeks a year allowing for 6 weeks holiday, bank holidays and a couple of weeks if you are ill and you are over £100k. Your costs will be below £20k and will be offset by the higher paid works you do such as mortgage and CPR reports. You cant make that driving a lorry or a bus realistically. You can possibly make £50k driving a continental lorry if you are prepared to sleep in the cab a few nights a week but most are less than that. My point was made to the other chap as he was looking for advice. It was that you can make money in Arb if you really push yourself, work hard / smart, and do the right training. Don't get me wrong, you will spend years earning that same money that you did as a climber and wonder if you have done the right thing but it will pay off in the end if you make the right decisions. Re. The expert witness work. I have only just started doing it and i don't advertise but i am told by those that do it that it is pretty busy. Makes sense i suppose as people claim for everything these days. One chap told me that his work is 50/50 BS5837 and CPR reports and he doesn't do anything else as that fills his week. Its something that you have to build a client base for i suppose but it isn't something i push at the moment as my training is on hold due to Covid. I noticed you are a retired climber, what do you do now? Surveying? Cheers Chris

That is what lecturers used to tell me. Its nonsense though. LA TO jobs are usually £25 - £35k - as good as most climbing jobs and you can do it when you are 60. But you see the occasional one at £45k, usually for a county council. TLR had one advertised a few months ago at £54k, plus free rail travel within London, and 75% discount elsewhere including the Eurostar. That isn't bad if you ask me but the money is in the private sector. Expert witnesses earn more. A lot more, think £800 - £1,200 a day depending on how good you are. You can earn really good money doing mortgage reports as well if you can stand the monotony.

That is basically what i did. I did a 1 year course full time at a college in Somerset in 1997. It covered the climbing, chainsaws and felling on Monday and Tuesday. Then Wednesday, Thursday and Friday it was the theory. I was 23 at the time. I then worked on the tools until i was 30 before i got a job as a junior TO. If you are a similar age and want to do a bit of the practical side then i would recommend this approach. You can go straight to the advisory side though. Someone else said look at the Level 2, 4 and 6 qualifications through tree life. This is good advice. I had already covered level 2 with my full time course above but i did level 4 with tree life back in 2005, well the old Tech Cert version. That will get you an interview for a junior TO job or surveyor, i got a junior TO job with it. I then did L6 in 2012, got a better TO job, I actually got the job in 2010 on the understanding i upped my qualifications to at least L5. I finished L6 in 2014 and started doing consultancy, the next step up. I am now doing expert witness training which is a step up again. Point is, if you go straight to advisory, you don't have to stand still. There is a lot of space to grow into. There are different areas also - risk, subsidence, planning, etc. cheers chris

P.s. just noticed you said replacements had been planted. Lucky escape. I hadn’t looked at the blue book in years so just dug it out. The bottom of page 60 actually states that you can make a TPO after the 6 weeks!

He can make a TPO any time. They are made in accordance with the 2012 regs, that is the legislation you mention. Clearly the TO isn’t confident in what he is doing otherwise you could be in trouble. I would plant the trees and consider yourself lucky. If he gets ambitious this could still be a problem. The blue book is not relevant. It was withdrawn in 2012 as it does not reflect the new regs. They never produced a new blue book, instead they produced the online guidance. This states that LPAs have 3 options when receiving a 211 notice. 1. Write to you saying no objection to the works. 2. Ignore the notice and you can work after 6 weeks. 3. Serve a TPO. The guidance states that when making a TPO, it should preferably be within the six weeks. But, it doesn’t say it has to be, that it doesn’t is implied by the word preferably. You could probably claim mitigating circumstances but if it was served registered post (as it should be) I don’t think it would get you far. ultimately, the trees had been picked up by a different piece of legislation that you hadn’t applied for work under. I don’t see how the 211 notice is relevant. Can’t say I have heard of this simulation before though so keep us posted. cheers Chris.

You do realise the blue book was withdrawn in 2012! It no longer has any legal standing.

Not sure what you are saying. Do you want to work as a tree surgeon or go straight into a technical role?

It’s probably worth getting a report to check if there is a risk of direct damage or subsidence. Your mortgage company may insist on it. Its impossible to say from some pics on a website. Where is the property?

Actually, it looks a bit like Piptoporus. I should probably mention at this point that I can’t find my glasses. 😁

Never seen Fomes on Cherry but you are correct re the white rot. Simultaneous rot to be exact. this one looks more like an old desiccated Laetiporus bracket to me. That would fit better with the cherry for me as well. Brown rotter if so.