maintanance on an old beech tree

R

R_Schra

Location
Netherlands
Nice tree, good climb, heavy headache, not to much enjoyed it, 2 hours lost time due schoolchildren having pass that oldy at 08:00-08:45 and 11:45-13:00 so nothing could be dropped. I hate those freakin parents that have to drop their kids of at school in front the gate by car instead a small walk over the city's defences. It was real mayhem for them a change in regular habbits as we were working that tree. Towmorrow ½ day finishing up and then deadwooding a second huge beech for the city, they passed by and asked to do it straight after.

before and after pic. o yeah, look at that lazy cabling....

before work


after work


different view


limbwalk


cabling /forum/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
Ronald,

You did a great job on that one. If I hadn't seen that tree last saturday (huge and lots of dead tips) I couldn't appreciate the job you did as much by just looking at the pics in this post.

Was that sh!tty cabling job under the hedera???
/forum/images/graemlins/jamminz.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Ronald,

You did a great job on that one. If I hadn't seen that tree last saturday (huge and lots of dead tips) I couldn't appreciate the job you did as much by just looking at the pics in this post.

Was that sh!tty cabling job under the hedera???

[ QUOTE ]
<font color="red">YEAH IT WAS HIDDEN :) </font>

[/ QUOTE ]
/forum/images/graemlins/jamminz.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey Wolter,

Very much appreciation from me that you took the effort to come by last saturday. To bad we had that little time.

Its not only the pruning, partly removing the Hedera and the root/soil assesment that makes this an interesting job to do. Also bringing the awarenes to the owner about this unique tree and the willingnes of here to list it voluntairly at the dutch tree foundation.

I already partly removed the hedera and there were no strange or false crotches hidden. Just that freakin steel hardware i will remove towmorrow. (i have to admit that probarly it was installed in the past by our firm.)

I quess the tree reduced itself by 4-5 meters in height with those dead tops. Biggest limb upthere i removed was about ø15cm and about 50 years of growth. hard to tell as the last 30 so years the rings were very very very small.

The renewed inner crown has some very nice sprout length trough the whole crown. i think interiour branches were starting grown back about 10-12 years ago.

Im still tubbing about that hedera to remove further down or not. Only a very small area was sunscald in the treetop on only two already removed branches.

in the pic below the tree and part circled i think still can be removed. When that part is away the tree is cleared down to that big forkle so it is good to check annualy. The back 'shaded' trunk is made clear to that forkle.

anyone a opinion about that? (photo taken about 16:00hrs so it seems a shaded area that will be exposed when the hedera is gone)

photo of that english ivy part i still want to remove
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ Im still tubbing about that hedera to remove further down or not. Only a very small area was sunscald in the treetop on only two already removed branches.

in the pic below the tree and part circled i think still can be removed. When that part is away the tree is cleared down to that big forkle so it is good to check annualy. The back 'shaded' trunk is made clear to that forkle.

anyone a opinion about that? (photo taken about 16:00hrs so it seems a shaded area that will be exposed when the hedera is gone)


[/ QUOTE ]So you're asking about removing the english ivy aka hedera helix from the lower trunk? and the issue is between the risk of sunscald and the aesthetic benefit of the ivy and the work of removing it? I like keeping ivy on lower trunks in many trees because the owner and I think the benefits outweigh the risks. Especially if you'll be back regularly to keep it in check.

If it needs to come off then if done in the fall that would lessen sunscald risk, right?
 
[ QUOTE ]
So you're asking about removing the english ivy aka hedera helix from the lower trunk? and the issue is between the risk of sunscald and the aesthetic benefit of the ivy and the work of removing it? I like keeping ivy on lower trunks in many trees because the owner and I think the benefits outweigh the risks. Especially if you'll be back regularly to keep it in check.

If it needs to come off then if done in the fall that would lessen sunscald risk, right?

[/ QUOTE ]

Hya Guy,

Aesthetic? english ivy (thx for the name)? not for me it is. I wanted to keep as much as possible as the ivy blooms in this time of year. good for the bees en other flying crud as food is harder to get now. I removed it down to that lower branch. I found some bad wounds that i like to easy assesment in future.

stub decay shown after removing the ivy

The crotch from the two main trunks, about 6 meters up from the ground.

false crotch much lower as initial thoughd it would be

This is what i left of that english ivy.

had to tie it to the trunk

View at the city and that beech tree, it is an eyecatcher.

to bad i cant take a pic and stand in that treetop at the same time
 
Beautiful pictures, beautiful work. Thanks!

I wouldn't sweat the wounds too much, they are closing nicely, but I agree on keeping them clear of ivy to slow decay.

The crotch does not look that bad either but yes good to keep it visible. Smart to let the hedera flower; many little waspy bugs are beneficials.
 
I'm sorry- I hate Hedera. At least, I hate it here. I pretty much hate invasive exotics of the plant world, personally. But English ivy also is not good for trees. Most vines are not, in the long run, but some more so than others, and English Ivy is really not good. It can add a tremendous amount of weight, surface area for ice or snow, shades out foliage, can sometimes actually girdle large limbs like strangler fig, and can hide potentially devastating problems.
Can removal of ivy in the fall cause sunscald on mature beech? All of the leaves will soon be gone, shouldn't it be ready for sunlight?
 
Tree4est

The assuming that lost leaves in fall is common so the beech is hardened against sunscald is not the issue i believe. Every beech tree that stands in his 'natural' and undisturbed habitat is ready against sunscald. The problems do happen when a tree gets pruned, change in the area, groundproblems, (like soil compacting, removal of shade given tree/building/ivy(?), instabel waterlevels over the years, sudden direct sun on rootball etc.) These parameters do influence the trees habitat and therefore can changes the trees 'micro environment'. This can causes decline in the trees abatement. And that makes the beech sensitive for sunscald i was told by a respective arborist i know....
 
Yeah, I've certainly seen overpruned or even topped beeches with sunscald. I think they are very sensitive, but I also think (not being able to find any specific information) that sunscald might be more likely with exposure that occurs earlier in the season, as more of a shock. Trees do prepare for leaf loss in the fall, I expect there's a chance that ivy removal in the fall might not be the problem it could be earlier in the year. But, I'm just guessing. I'd love to see the rest of that tree without the ivy, but I sure wouldn't want it hurt. Was it hard to pull off? I've found that getting ivy off of American beeches is a total pain. You'd think it wouldn't be able to grab onto smooth bark as well, but it sure does. The more the bark exfoliates, the easier it is to get off. Also the age of the ivy makes a difference. The really young strands break easily and individually, the older stuff you can peel down in clumps like a banana.
 
Trees4est,

That iva came loose easy. Down the trunk it was already loose so i had to tie it against the trunk. That last part i removed took me 10 minutes to get down. I clipped at the right hight and then cut the strands growing around the upper branches. It fell off immediatly.

I didnt remove all ivy, left about 7-8 meters up the trunk at the south side of it. (pic above cityview)

Ronald
 
Ronald I'm with you on staying sensitive to microclimate issues, and avoiding sudden changes for older trees.

I've never in 40 years seen hedera "sometimes actually girdle large limbs like strangler fig"; it does not twine around and is too soft to be strangling, from what I've seen.
 
No, really. I kid you not. It was one of the worst ivy removals I've done. In a post oak, growing moderately slowly, it had squeezed into the tissue around limbs in many places, digging in about a centimeter on two centimeter diameter strands. I have seen it occasionally in other trees, and I've often seen it included into crotches. I will reiterate that it can really effectively hide defects. It's a pretty plant, but tree bark is pretty too. But I'm a little jaded on Hedera after seeing some really nice trees engulfed and overtaken.
I understand the concern for sudden changes, especially on beeches. I was just wondering if anyone had any direct exerience with solar injury after ivy removal in the fall, or if anyone had read anything specifically on timing of exposure and related injuries. It seems like it might be okay to remove it in the fall, but I don't know or have direct experience with it. I've only removed ivy from two beeches, it wasn't that dense and the lower trunks were much more shaded. No shock at all, in those instances. I'm not saying it's bunk or anything.
 
[ QUOTE ]
That's a great job Ronald !
Looking real good !!

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey Werner,

Nice to see you here. Have you ever 'sold' that idea with that tree/trunk protection you made... /forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif

See u again...

Ronald
 
[ QUOTE ]
I like your boots

[/ QUOTE ]

Mine??


Dont put youre nose into them /forum/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I like um to. these are two year old, 6 day a week +12 hour a day footwear. I use um for hiking to. For work the best i had for logging (on steep dikes here), for spiking up removals, and climbing overall. For light pruning i would like some lighter flexible boots though(they are heavy enough to kick some butt /forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif). but hey, these can do the job to. Laces are the originals to. only the sole is getting torn up now. maybe a year i can do with um. The lining is nice to, it breathes good so that smell isnt that bad /forum/images/graemlins/tongue.gif O yeah, maintanance on these boots? i just clean um with a steam pressure cleaner once a while and put them in grease just before winter (i did that twice). never had wet (sweaty)feet in um. in 30degrees celcius temps just hot when not 'working', never felt hot during work itself.

boot tag

WARNING shut down youe PC ventilation to prevent bad smell (dont look if youre not interested, look at youre own risk)
 
Ronald,

Could you please leave your photo's where they should be... in the attachment!!!
By putting them in the post you are fuck!ng up the "re reading fun" of a thread. All those pics have to reload again before the page stops running /forum/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forum/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forum/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
Hi,

i noticed that also. will see to fix it by making hotlinks to um instead beeing imbedded. /forum/images/graemlins/9lame.gif

Thx for pointing out.

edit: done within 4 minutes :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Back
Top Bottom