ArbMish

These guys often have second hand books. I think you need to call if i remember right. Also if you're a student they give student discount Welcome to Summerfield Books - Summerfield Books WWW.SUMMERFIELDBOOKS.COM Welcome to Summerfield Books - suppliers of new, rare and out-of-print books on botany, forestry and natural history. Browse our collection today.

Got to love the advert DMM have made for the micro vault! 😆😆 Also anyone using one of these?

Ivy can form complete cages around tree stems and braches if left long enough. It tends to fuse together more than spiral but it can still have a girdling effect. I wish i'd taken more photos now but large scale ivy removal is such a pain in the ass that you just want to get in with it haha. [emoji1]

Here's a better photo. You can see the indent on the right. To be fair it may have actually been ivy stem. Almost anything can girdle tree buttresses and stem. Even relatively thin roots if they've been there long enough. Oh and no that pipe was relatively new so had nothing to do with the girdling.

A trees own roots can girdle it. This video is excellent for information about girdling roots. One of Treestuffs Webinars. https://www.facebook.com/events/3768564116490289/

Aha very true. We make multiple jokes about speaking Denglish (Deutsch/english) amongst English speaking friends!

I'll ask my colleague he takes more photos than I do. I've attached 3 here where the ivy root/stem was girdling the Quercus stem. Unfortunately the photos aren't very good. In the photo that's taken from further back, you can see that the left of the trunk looks flat (you may have to zoom in) this was caused by the ivy girdling the stem . In the other two the photos aren't really close enough but I think you can just see the ivy covering the root flare on the right hand side. Unfortunately the garden here was at some point re-landscaped and the root flare covered up.

Actually it's English lads. I'm Scottish but I've been living and working in Germany for almost 4 years so 90% of the time I speak and write in German. Writing anything lengthy in English takes a bit of thinking haha.

On the subject of Ivy killing trees. Most trees are not actually killed by one singular thing but rather a number of contributing factors. For example with dutch elm disease: without the beetles that first infect the tree, the tree is less likely to be infected. We can say DED killed the tree but the beetles are such a high contributing factor that we can also say the beetles killed the tree. Interestingly in the 60s research found that Elms often recovered from the disease. (Peace, 1960) Therefore we can also assume that the stress brought on by climate change/pollution etc is another contributing factor leading to the death of the tree. In short, Ivy is a large contributing factor to the death of trees, whether by root girdling, windblown or canopy shading. I have personally done a lot of Ivy removal in trees, where the ivy has reached within a foot of the tips. In general we remove ivy to just under the first branch fork on the main stem (roughly), this leaves a considerable amount of habitat for nesting birds, bees, wasps, butterflies etc and also in a lot of cases blocks the view into the garden for nosey neighbours . I feel this is a good solution as the ivy is not completely lost as a habitat and will take a good number of years to grow back. At which point we are often back on the property to reduce branches from facades and remove dead wood, so the ivy can be dealt with then. I have removed Ivy that has caused large indentations in branches, that has been half girdling roots/buttresses, has quite obviously shaded the tree and caused a reduction in canopy growth and has likely caused the death of branches. It is plain to see after ivy removal that the ivy has caused a 'lion tailing' effect and normal crown growth has been effected. It is also important to remember that not only does ivy effect food production (photosynthesis) but also gaseous exchange (lenticels). I have seen trunks and main branches smothered with ivy and feel that it is safe to conclude that gaseous exchange must be to some degree effected. I have found that Quercus and Acers are the most heavily effected. However I have also seen Pinus heavily effected. I have attached a couple of example pictures. In the first picture a significant portion of Ivy has already been removed. The ivy was right up to the tips at the start of the job. In the second picture it's hard to see but under the tree on the right hand side is a small tree completely overtaken by Ivy. It was almost completely dead. (Side note if any of my sentences are a little oddly structured, sorry I haven't written this much in English in a really long time )

I feel like I used to have a good answer to this...but it's christmas so i'm in no fit state haha. Certainly some species such as weeping willow have an incredible reaction when dead wooded. It's like the tree has a whole new lease of life. I think it has something to do with it stops the tree from sending as much energy to the deadwood areas...perhaps someone else has had a quieter festive season and can answer in a more scientific manner [emoji6]

Hello hello, Apologies if any of you have already seen this on Facebook or LinkedIn. I'm hoping some of you will be able to help me out. I have a college project that requires a survey..I am creating a Support pack for arbs to assist sales, improve public relations and aid in the training of new staff. It's UK based as that's where I am just now. Would you mind taking 5 minutes to fill out my survey? It'll give you an opportunity to vent about customers... ? https://uhi.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/arborist-support-pack I really appreciate any responses. Thank you in advance ? Ps: If there's enough interest I may develop it.

Hey clive at epic tree care has a pto chipper he has on his tractor he crane feeds, if that‘ll work?

You might have already used it but this sites really good: https://www.pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?LatinName=Araucaria+araucana Usually everything’s referenced too so you can find the original info. It had some on propagation Good luck!

Some of you may have received an email from me...if you have please reply..if not have a read... My name is Amy I am a self employed tree surgeon (read subby) and student studying arboriculture at the Scottish School of Forestry. After attending the Arboriculture Association's (AA) Scottish branch AGM I've been asked to meet with the CEO of the Arb' Association in March, to discuss "concerns and proposals for the future”. I am trying to get as many opinion/ideas etc as possible. I'm not advocating for the AA, I am not employed by them and I don't volunteer for them. I am doing this out of my own determination to help the Scottish arboriculture industry moving forward. This is a great opportunity for Scotlands arbs to have their opinion fed back directly to the AA. Everyone (no matter how small or big) has a view and this is important to structure and guide the way forward so any feedback and the reasons why would be fantastic. Negative opinions are absolutely fine as long as reasons why are included. (If you need to vent take this as an opportunity but please explain the reasons for venting). If you can also include: What you would like to see the AA doing in Scotland? What is not happening but should be? What's happening that is not effective? Any other general thoughts? I will keep all feedback anonymous of course. I intend to present my findings as group opinions. However the more feedback received the easier it will be to convince the CEO that things need to change and why. With that in mind you can comment here or private message me if you like. Some people have already asked to speak to me over the phone or meet me in person..I’m completely fine with this, private message me and I can arrange this. I look forward to hearing from you all. Cheers Amy [emoji4]

Hey guys any of you not booked onto the BS:3998 may want to do it now as I’ve received word it may not run with the low numbers they have at the moment!

Good point felix. I had only intended to add to the discussion on work positioning. I’m sorry that it seems to have gone another way.

Haha mate!

Thanks, like I mentioned I’ve already found a few! Haha and as for Mike Hill, I’d say that’s the kind of attitude that causes problems.

I would just like to add something that isn't exactly about work positioning but I think is relevant. This is not specific to this very sad case but may prevent others. I think the training/development of new people to Arb' work needs to change. Not in terms of tickets but when people start work with companies. I'm still relatively new to arb work so I'm talking from personal experience and that of others I know who are still relatively new in the industry. Very often you are pushed hard and expected to work quickly..which often leads to rushing..this then leads to corners being cut..one of which is often work positioning. I have found myself many times about to cut because I feel I need to be faster only to check myself and realise my positioning is not adequate. The amount of times I've also heard 'just one hand it' or for small branches in awkward positions when I'm using a silky because honestly when it's that awkward for me it's actually faster. I'm often asked, why I didn't just use the saw? I am lucky to work with some pretty great people now, who don't have ridiculous expectations, who do push me to work harder and better but don't push me to stupid limits. They are also excellent at explaining things to me throughout the job, regardless as to whether it effects me at the time or not. However as the above probably suggests this has not always been the case. My best (or worst as it were) example of this is this incident: The first company I worked for we were worked hard and fast and on the job training rarely seemed to happened. One day I was sent to fell some trees behind a barn at the yard because brash was needed for new guys chipper tickets. The boss asked me to fell a tree in 60 seconds. He told me I should be able to... I'll put this in perspective, despite having the relevant ticket I had rarely been given the opportunity to fell anything. This tree was bigger than the bar length of my saw, something I had never tackled AND it was down a very steep bank (the kind you slide down rather than walk), the barn wall was a couple of meters or so behind the tree so my escape routes were over a small drainage/stream that was down a foot/half foot drop behind the tree. Because of this drop finding footing behind the tree was also very difficult. Now given my inexperience, the tree positioning and the boss standing at the top of the bank telling me to get it done in 60 seconds I was under a lot of pressure. But it took me shouting at him to get him to explain how I should make a gob cut when the tree is bigger than bar length. Altogether he was not very happy with me. Perhaps you find the acceptable behaviour. But to me it's actions like this that put 'newbies' at a higher risk and this can be when bad habits develop as well. I feel that this is something that needs to change in order to prevent future accidents. This has turned into a longer post then intended but I hope I've got my point across.

I can only speak for the North East and North, where I wouldn’t say pay’s that great but it does depend who you work for. Mostly it’s small companies up here and subbies. Out of interest what would you consider low housing costs?

Hey Wolf I'm wondering if you could help me out. What do you need to do to be able to get work for a year in Germany? I'm just researching at the moment as I'm looking to do a years paid placement in Germany after I finish college this year. Is it just that you can't stay for a year self-employed, you have to be employed instead? Thanks in advance. Amy

Hello, Is anyone North of the central belt going to the AA Scottish Branch AGM tomorrow? I was hoping to share at least some of the journey with people but so far no luck and it's a 4 hour journey for me. I'm coming from Aberdeenshire but I could easily stop along the way to share the journey. *fingers crossed* someone's going! Cheers Amy

There are two now running in Inverness in March: Tuesday 20th March - ARB Approved Contractor Preparation Workshop (a free event for contractors / tree surgeons / clients / Tree Officers) Wednesday 21st March – BS 3998 Tree Work Recommendations Seminar (a priced event for contractors / consultants / Tree Officers / Tree Managers / Specifiers) I'll be coming from Aberdeenshire if you want to share a lift?

We have courses in Inverness!! Tuesday 20th March - ARB Approved Contractor Preparation Workshop (a free event for contractors / tree surgeons / clients / Tree Officers) Wednesday 21st March – BS 3998 Tree Work Recommendations Seminar (a priced event for contractors / consultants / Tree Officers / Tree Managers / Specifiers) You can book here: https://www.trees.org.uk/Training-And-Events Lets spread the word so we can get more going after this

Hey Andy, you'll be coming from Inverness and down the A9 yeah? Thanks for the offer I'd share but I'm afraid I'll be coming from Aberdeenshire so that's the wrong side for you, right?