botchedashtree

Oh okay I will make sure they're completely covered. Thanks for the advice

Would a 1 inch layer be enough to stop them drying out?

My garden is completely concrete and over the years about three trees have caused it to crack, split and even lift up so I'd like to get rid of some of the concrete and grow some nice wildflowers instead. My main concern is whether it is okay to do so. I currently only have one mature ash tree and I believe its roots are the main culprit in lifting up the paving but as you can see in the photos there used to be a horse chestnut which burst open the ground and a smaller unknown species which caused cracks of its own. The concrete layer is roughly 2-4 inches thick and I'm assuming the ash tree's roots are growing right underneath, so if I remove the layer and expose the soil would the roots be okay? Or should I spread a 1 inch layer of multipurpose compost to give some protection? Additionally, I want to dig a 2 square metre area of soil out to create a wildlife pond so what depth would be okay to dig to without damaging the roots? - the pond would start about 3.6 metres from the trunk. I lifted a large slab up where the horse chestnut used to be and found some 1 inch thick roots but I don't know which tree they belong too. Weirdly though, I lifted another slab opposite it and no roots were exposed, just soil; however I didn't dig further. As the soil is compacted from being under concrete for over 20 years I would need to rake it a bit to loosen it, will this be okay to do? As for the tree itself it is around 100 years old and was disfigured in November by a cowboy so the health is questionable but I want it to live - I made a previous post about this situation if you want more information. I want to grow some smaller trees though in the new soil just in case it dies so if my idea is sound then I can go ahead.

Oh yes there are definitely good arborists out there, I'm just unlucky with most things in life haha. I will remember to use this site next time for sure. That's good to hear, I do feel more assured now. I don't really care about the looks of it as long as it grows back healthily.

Oh wow thanks for all the replies everyone! I'll definitely keep an eye on it for the next few years, I live in London and according to the interactive Chalara spread map, my square on the grid& the one above it doesn't have any reported cases yet. But damn that sounds so terrible. I've contacted an ISA arborist who suggested I get an inspection done by another guy he reccommends so I'll see what they say. So the ivy being left on was also a scam! The more I read everyone's posts the more I feel like I've overpaid oh dear...It took me 2 months to get an agreement from the neighbour to pay 50/50 to get this done (on the boundary), and there's no way I can ask them to do it again soon. I will have to wait a few years at the very least. They applied resolva stump killer on the cut ivy so I think they at least poisoned it. It is indeed a school behind but the service road provides a buffer zone in case anything falls - the tree at its greatest extent never reached the playground fence. Interesting, that could explain why the main trunk is so short. I used the wrong terminology sorry, I meant to say large branches from the crown were falling off more frequently. But that could be because the storms were getting more powerful in the past two years and the crown just kept growing more and more. The Americans were really negative so it's nice to see an arborist so optimistic about my tree haha! The guy did say 5 years would be the next time I'd have to prune it so hopefully that's one thing he was telling the truth about. I took a photo from my room but it's not very great as there's a bunch of fallen ivy and twigs in the middle where the limbs join the stem. From the ground there's ivy wrapped around so can't even take a photo from there properly. Nope but it might have been done by the same guy? The only explanation they gave for cutting it so short was that it some parts were about to snap off and the rest was overgrown, but it would grow back nicely. I wish I had stopped them halfway as I felt something was off but oh well. On another note, can you believe that a professional arborist/tree surgery company was charging me £900 to remove just HALF of the ivy? I hate that people can just charge whatever just because its London

I had an overgrown ash tree that had probably never been pruned in its 100 years life which was smothered in dense arboreal ivy. As more and more large limbs were breaking off in the past 2 years, I thought I should finally get someone to reduce its size and so I spoke to several tree surgeons who all offered pretty much the same thing which was a crown reduction. The guy I went with said he would reduce the crown by 30-40%, now that should have raised a red flag but because of my ignorance I just assumed that it was okay because it was an exceptional situation. Come this Tuesday, he turns up with his team and carries out what I believe is a pollard/topping and removes the entire canopy. He removed all the ivy except some large vines which would damage the bark if ripped off, but he did poison it so it shouldn't grow back. Unfortunately, I didn't realise the damage he had done to the tree until I asked some arborists on another forum. They said that the tree is now guaranteed to die and I will have to remove it within the next few years. If it doesn't die straight away then the water sprouts will cause me more problems and result in more large limbs falling. Lastly, because of the stub cuts the tree is now guaranteed to rot and get a fungal disease. The reason I'm posting on here is because the other arborists were mainly American and they did come across as overreacting a bit especially since they kept mentioning emerald ash borer. It would be great if I could get the opinions of British arborists on the extent of damage done to the tree and what will happen to it now. Is the tree truly doomed or am I able to somehow save it and keep it in good health? I didn't want to remove it for environmental reasons (birds used the tree) but if I have to in the next 5 years, is there a good replacement tree that can provide the same sort of habitat for wildlife, and can grow to a good size in those 5 years? How often will I have to prune it now? Regarding Ash dieback, there haven't been any reports in my area and the canopy was lush and full this summer. Incase the image doesn't show for some reason please use this link: imgur.com IMGUR.COM Imgur: The magic of the Internet Left pic was taken last winter https://i