A beautiful, mature beech tree in a garden. 25m tall and 150dbh, it was a lovely, open grown specimen, forking into two co-dominant stems at about 2m high. However, one stem (closest to the house in question) had a long-standing Ganoderma bracket on it - I counted at least 8 years of growth on it.
We had been asked, on behalf of the homeowners, to do decay detection tests to see how bad the fungal activity is. A bit of research revealed that the tree is protected and there had been an application to remove it, refused by the tree officer, who wanted to see how bad the decay was before agreeing to such action. Hence my involvement.
The actual survey itself was good fun; I always get a kick out of doing Picus tests and seeing what the interior of the tree looks like. Decay in the stem was nearly at the 70% t/r ratio, where most trees show a significantly increased risk of failure. A test below the bracket showed less extensive decay, but worryingly, getting closer to the included bark at the stem union. So the recommendations - a crown reduction to take the weight off the decayed stem, coupled with cable bracing to reinforce the already vulnerable stem union given that decay seemed to be entering that area. A Picus at the base revealed some minor decay in the centre, possibly having spread down; so, as an added recommendation, soil decompaction and mulching could give the tree more of a fighting chance at compartmentalising the decay.
However, when we first arrived, the husband at the property made no bones about wanting its removal, claiming his family were scared of the tree failing. He made out that his wife really wanted the tree gone - so having completed the tests, and telling the wife that I thought the tree could be made safe and kept, her relief seemed a bit at odds with her husband's account of how she felt. Hmmm.
So I wrote up the report and made recommendations, and was duly contacted by our instructing client (on behalf of the homeowners) who, as it turned out, worked for... a development agency. I gladly told her that yes, the tree needed work, but it could be kept. The desired outcome, or so I thought. The client had other ideas, informing me that, really, they want the tree felled. "It's dangerous." Well, erm, not if you carry out the work I've recommended... "It's never going to get better though, is it?" Well, would that be a suitable excuse for an ill human? No, it's never going to 'heal' - it's a mature Beech at least 150 years old, by my reckoning - but given the right treatment it could go on longer, whilst being made safe to decline on its terms.
Luckily, I played the professional advice card, suppressing my "save the trees" tendencies and instead arguing that, if I recommended a fell, the tree officer would take a look at the decay detection results and reach the conclusion that I reached - yes, work needs done, but the tree can be retained. So it was a waste of their money asking me to recommend a fell, because the tree officer would throw any report like that out of the window.
However, it left me quite angry. A development company... Who are they kidding? They wanted rid of the tree so that the property owners could develop there. They were looking for any reason why that tree could be felled. Quite a relief that the council were on the ball and had TPO'd it. It's a lack of respect; we don't "own" trees, to remove at our whim when we feel money can be made. A tree that old will have seen the days when it was horse and cart passing by the road, not cars driving by. It will have seen countless inhabitants of that property, and could see more if given sympathetic treatment. Yes, it is in the autumn of its years - but for a tree that old, the autumn could last rather a long time.
So show some respect for living beings of that stature. Realise how lucky you are to have such a magnificent tree in your garden. Think about the air pollution attenuation, the shading, evaporative cooling, water table regulation and carbon storage that tree is providing. And, lastly, put your cards on the table - don't pretend that the tree needs felling because it is dangerous, when actually it's in the way of your development and you don't see how important keeping trees like that are. It was astonishing that they even tried to be so underhand, and I'm just glad that the local authority were so aware and decisive; hopefully, this particular beech will see many more years to come.
The actual survey itself was good fun; I always get a kick out of doing Picus tests and seeing what the interior of the tree looks like. Decay in the stem was nearly at the 70% t/r ratio, where most trees show a significantly increased risk of failure. A test below the bracket showed less extensive decay, but worryingly, getting closer to the included bark at the stem union. So the recommendations - a crown reduction to take the weight off the decayed stem, coupled with cable bracing to reinforce the already vulnerable stem union given that decay seemed to be entering that area. A Picus at the base revealed some minor decay in the centre, possibly having spread down; so, as an added recommendation, soil decompaction and mulching could give the tree more of a fighting chance at compartmentalising the decay.
However, when we first arrived, the husband at the property made no bones about wanting its removal, claiming his family were scared of the tree failing. He made out that his wife really wanted the tree gone - so having completed the tests, and telling the wife that I thought the tree could be made safe and kept, her relief seemed a bit at odds with her husband's account of how she felt. Hmmm.
So I wrote up the report and made recommendations, and was duly contacted by our instructing client (on behalf of the homeowners) who, as it turned out, worked for... a development agency. I gladly told her that yes, the tree needed work, but it could be kept. The desired outcome, or so I thought. The client had other ideas, informing me that, really, they want the tree felled. "It's dangerous." Well, erm, not if you carry out the work I've recommended... "It's never going to get better though, is it?" Well, would that be a suitable excuse for an ill human? No, it's never going to 'heal' - it's a mature Beech at least 150 years old, by my reckoning - but given the right treatment it could go on longer, whilst being made safe to decline on its terms.
Luckily, I played the professional advice card, suppressing my "save the trees" tendencies and instead arguing that, if I recommended a fell, the tree officer would take a look at the decay detection results and reach the conclusion that I reached - yes, work needs done, but the tree can be retained. So it was a waste of their money asking me to recommend a fell, because the tree officer would throw any report like that out of the window.
However, it left me quite angry. A development company... Who are they kidding? They wanted rid of the tree so that the property owners could develop there. They were looking for any reason why that tree could be felled. Quite a relief that the council were on the ball and had TPO'd it. It's a lack of respect; we don't "own" trees, to remove at our whim when we feel money can be made. A tree that old will have seen the days when it was horse and cart passing by the road, not cars driving by. It will have seen countless inhabitants of that property, and could see more if given sympathetic treatment. Yes, it is in the autumn of its years - but for a tree that old, the autumn could last rather a long time.
So show some respect for living beings of that stature. Realise how lucky you are to have such a magnificent tree in your garden. Think about the air pollution attenuation, the shading, evaporative cooling, water table regulation and carbon storage that tree is providing. And, lastly, put your cards on the table - don't pretend that the tree needs felling because it is dangerous, when actually it's in the way of your development and you don't see how important keeping trees like that are. It was astonishing that they even tried to be so underhand, and I'm just glad that the local authority were so aware and decisive; hopefully, this particular beech will see many more years to come.
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