Veteran Tree Work
A client of The Tree Company, to the west of London, recently had a problem. They had several dead, standing veteran trees along side a busy road on their estate and they were beginning to become unstable and liable to collapse in to the road.
Something had to be done. Due to the nature of the trees they could not just be removed, so after consultation with English Nature, the governments advisory body on the environment, a plan was made. The trees would be dismantled in as big a bits as possible using a crane and the large stumps dug up and the whole lot transported to an out of the way area to be half buried in the ground.
This sounds a bit mad but the reasoning is sound. Old dead trees support a great deal of wildlife from bugs and beetles to mosses, lichens and fungus to bats and birds and small mammals (we found several Stag beetle lava).
Some of this wildlife are rare species and some only live in dead trees and stumps. By carefully dismantling the trees and digging out as much as possible this valuable habitat could be saved and the flora and fauna disturbed as little as possible.
The Tree Company is proud to be involved in this project, it is the sort of creative tree surgery that really excites and it is nice to have a change from the regular every day felling and reduction work. We will be keeping an eye on the results and progress of the move. Look out for updates in the future.
Tree Felling
Trees may need to be removed for many reasons. The tree may be dead, dangerous or diseased. It may be in an inappropriate location or perhaps it is just not wanted any more.
There are various way to fell a tree. Straight felling is cutting the tree at the base with a directional felling cut (it looks like a wedge of cake or chese removed in the direction you want the tree to fall). If there is not enough room to straight fell a tree, as in most London gardens, then the tree needs to be dismantled in small pieces. This can be difficult to control so lowering ropes and friction devices would be used to lower large bits of wood to the ground in a safe and controlled manor.
In most London back gardens the wood needs to be cut into small bits and carried out by hand or in a wheelbarrow. Sometimes for very large or very dangerous akward trees, and where access will allow a crane can be used.
Unfortunately the wood from felled trees, especially in London, is cut up so small it cannot be used for anything except fire wood. However, if the right tree species and circumstances occur sometimes bowls can be turned or planks milled from the timber.
Wherever possible we advise to replace a felled tree by replanting with the same species or a more appropriate species for the location.