I have a woodland, broadleaf plantation of about 20 years of age.
The plan has always been to manage for wildlife and as neither me nor my partner are chainsaw trained, do the felling, pollard and coppice work with hand tools only. Something we will stick with regardless.
Now this is going to sound cheeky and maybe it is, but I wanted to get some sense of whether there is any mileage in the idea as follows:
A few years ago an arb chap I happened to end up chatting with was training his son as a tree surgeon (alongside the formal training) and he approached woodland owners to offer reduced price services to allow his son some hands on experience post qualification. Kind of like a new driver who had just passed their test still having a parent in the car with them. It went down a storm and his son gained loads of experience and confidence in the process.
I’m sure you have an idea of what’s coming. Is there a need for trainee or newly qualified arborists to have access to larger wooded places, well away from any residential areas or the general public; with vehicular access, where they can be given free reign to practice their newly acquired skills (and not worry so much about doing something less than perfectly) for a nominal payment in return?
Shoot me down if it’s deserved!
