Autumn checks with “Green tree thinking“
Andy Nicol has advice on three seasonal tree checks for the autumn
When it comes to the autumn months, Andy Nicol, MD of Nicol: The Tree Specialist, is busy using his 25 years of experience assessing and making three seasonal checks on clients’ trees.
“As the leaves fall, it’s much easier to see the shape and structure of trees,” says Andy. “It’s also the time of year when fungi are most visible as they are not screened by foliage and I’ll be looking for any movement of the root plate, especially after high winds.”
Check 1: Tree Structure and Included Unions
To take the first check, the structure of a tree can still need care and attention once it is established. Hanging branches in the crown are a fairly obvious problem but so are splits, cracks and what are known as “included unions”.
“Many people don’t realise that a join like this, where two branches have grown tightly together at too narrow an angle, can create a line of weakness,” explains Andy. “If the branch angle is steep, there is often ‘included’ bark between the branch and the stem. As the tree grows, wood is laid down between the two and the area of contact between the branch and the parent stem acts like a crack under tensile stress, which can trigger a fracture. A high proportion of tree failures are associated with unions containing included bark.”
If you have a lot of trees on your land and there are various problems, Andy’s advice is to prioritise, assessing not only the actual tree defects but also the associated risks to your property (over a greenhouse or conservatory, for instance) and to others (over a footpath or road). Then it’s a case of planning, removing some trees, saving others with judicious pruning and thinning and looking at planting options for the future.
have grown together at too narrow an angle, creating a line of
weakness.
Check 2: Fungi
The second check is for fungi. Fungus on a tree, at its base or in clusters on the trunk, might be harmless but some can cause longer-term damage. Fungus come in various shapes and sizes, ranging from annual fruiting mushrooms of Honey Fungus ‘Armillaria mellea’, which is generally found around the tree base and on the main stem, to Chicken-of-the-woods ‘Laetiporus sulphureus’, an annual fruiting Polypore found high in the crown. A persistent crust of Brittle Cinder ‘Kretzschmaria deusta’, is a fungus frequently associated with the failure of trees and roots.
“Not all fungi mean disaster as some do not take advantage of tree defects,” says Andy. “To tell the difference, a professional tree condition assessment will identify the fungi and then devise a management plan according to the structure and condition of the trees.
Check 3: Root plate movement
Root plate movement is likely to be most obvious after a storm. “Raised earth or lawn or damage to nearby walls or fences are all obvious signs of risk,” says Andy, “and it’s certainly best to spot these early before you have a tree down, with all the damage that can entail for you and for neighbouring properties.”
Case Study: Windermere Manor Hotel
Andy’s team at Nicol: The Tree Specialist has been doing all of these checks and more at the Windermere Manor Hotel on Rayrigg Road on the outskirts of Windermere.
“Initially, we were brought in to do a tree safety inspection of a selection of the 100 or more trees in the grounds,” says Andy. “Industry best practice recommends to time the inspections so that they alternate between ‘in leaf’ and ‘out of leaf’.‘ Our priority was to inspect the trees that were adjacent to the road and main driveway and those checks then enabled us to produce a tree management plan outlining the priorities for any remedial work.”
“More recently, we’ve done a full planning survey, known as a BS 5837, for Windermere Manor,” says Andy. “BS 5837 is the British Standard that covers trees in relation to design, demolition and construction and we looked at 51 individual trees that might be affected by proposed development on the site. We categorised each tree to assess its natural value, inspected its health and structure and then we plotted the root protection area of each tree, giving the architects information on how best to protect the trees with any development. Our full report then gave the planning authority, architect and hotel owner everything they needed to make decisions about any new building, minimising the impact on the established trees.”
However many trees on your land, if you need green tree thinking to check them and create a plan, you can call Andy to discuss the solutions to your tree problems.
