Recycling and Bio Diversity

We fell and prune trees for many different reasons, however the environmental impact may not be as you initially believe. We work to a specification; we want to maintain your tree by mitigating structural failure. Our specifications are designed to benefit the structure and form of trees within the urban setting.

Occasionally we are asked to prune a tree which has been part of a hedge or topped or tipped, is excessively crown raised or crown thinned (lions tailing). Left to grow out of control its limbs are normally overextended with weak branch unions.

Trees in this condition may be suitable for what is called crown restoration. We climb throughout the tree inspecting and pruning out weak branch unions reducing and thinning over extended limbs. Always ensuring no more than 30% of the foliage is removed at any growing season.

However not all trees are suitable for such treatment some are in such a bad state that all we can recommend is felling monostem or create a chainsaw carving. We would prefer not to fell your trees and monostem is bad for trees and is considered ugly. If you live in a close urban environment with few trees, then I would recommend felling and re planting with a more suitable species. However, if your tree has no targets (Nothing in its proximity should it fail) and your tree has limited public view monostem may be an answer.

 

To monostem a tree with over extended limbs we reduce back to the stem all the limbs. If the tree does not die it will have to be maintained on a 3 year cycle cutting back to new wood.

We have found in our experience this process creates cavities and rot throughout the tree, from crown to stem. This becomes habitat for birds, mammals insects and fungi.

We would like to create a diverse environment. By maintaining safe standing dead wood and hedgerow stumps. Monostem can be a way of achieving this satisfying the customer’s needs and increasing bio diversity within the urban environment.

Often you find self-seeded ash sycamore and the like growing through your hedge, to maintain uniformity you may wish to fell these, by controlling re growth with a plant protection product leaving the stumps within your hedge you promote such insects as the staghorn beetle whose larvae live in decaying tree stumps.

We can feed your hedge with the Wood Chip From Your Own Garden and as this degrades it creates not only a nitrogen source for your plants but habitat for fungi and soil microbes etc.

Mulch applied to the base of your trees within the drip area greatly increases the fibrous root system of your trees. 

In conclusion, we try to maintain trees; "That is we try to keep trees in your garden" by pruning them to meet any concerns you may have. The strategy set out here is controversial as it is of no benefit to individual trees in fact it is detrimental to tree condition and requires a maintenance strategy to mitigate hazard. However, standing dead wood is a rarity which is why we prune out dead wood only over targets and recommend in some circumstances brutal heading cuts.