EverGreen Tree Care?

[Roger_Barnett]

This cedar got topped way down to a point where it wouldn't reach the house if it fell. I hated doing it, but consider it a living habitat tree.

 

[Roger_Barnett]

Here's why. It was a codom, and had had this huge breakout...

 

[Roger_Barnett]

Hard hat gone cause I'd been clowning around, and hadn't fastened the chinstrap....

 

[Bergsteiger]

Thanks Roger, definitely agree with end weight reduction and that healthy conifers don't really need to be pruned. After all they've survived a long time without our interference. I see a lot of conifers around that have been worked on and look kind of "thin". I think a lot of climbers find it a lot easier to just take whole limbs off at the trunk especially because it can often be next to impossible to limb walk.

 

[Mark Chisholm]

I would agree with you Roger that too many trees (conifers and hardwoods alike) are thinned too much, too often. I think that it is a mistake to remove the live growth inside the canopy. If you disagree, try to look at some trees that were "thinned" years ago and I bet you'll see why I feel this way.

 

[Roger_Barnett]

My new hire, a climber, said that, when he left three years ago, they were expected to do $3800 per day, with crew of 4. Didn't matter if they had to work at night...or weekend to get that quota x 5 for the week. That's $1200-1800/ 8 hour day more than an average going rate for most good companies around here, as of 3 years ago. And most of the work they do is unnecessary, as stated before. No wonder their safety record is abysmal.

 

[Bergsteiger]

Thats ridiculous

 

[RyanCafferky]

Here in P-Town I have come to the same conclusions about fir pruning. Basically all I recommend is removal of deadwood and limbs with obvious structural defects. What I like to remind customers about is how fir trees shed a lot of foliage during windstorms. They don't need us to rip it all out beforehand.

Luckily I work for a tree service that cares more about the long term health of the trees than a quick buck which makes going to work every day a real treat.

One other thread that relates to this one is the Silly Builder thread in the crane section. So much of our work after this storm could have been easily prevented if the builders had just looked at what they were doing to the groves of trees and just taken all the trees down instead of leaving a 120 foot fir out in the open that had grown in a grove it's whole life. Sometimes I think people around here think that all the firs are like palm trees with roots that look like carrots.

 

[cityclimber]

[ QUOTE ]


One other thread that relates to this one is the Silly Builder thread in the crane section. So much of our work after this storm could have been easily prevented if the builders had just looked at what they were doing to the groves of trees and just taken all the trees down instead of leaving a 120 foot fir out in the open that had grown in a grove it's whole life. Sometimes I think people around here think that all the firs are like palm trees with roots that look like carrots.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed, in some cases though, it is not up to the builder,but the building dept. In some areas the building dept dictates what trees are to be left. Then they come in and destroy the roots and change the grade. Meanwhile the houses are finished and sold. Then the trees die and we are stuck removing dead skinny forest trees in postage stamp back yards.

In some cases the building dept will let them remove the trees, but then they have to replant 4 in its place. So simple economics dictate they leave the trees.