Open Association of Landscape Industries
Tree appreciation
One of my favorite aspects of my job is tree work, I love looking at trees, the form of their branches, the shape of their crowns.
When I am pruning a tree it is a job that engages my brain, I'm not just following a lawnmower for a few hours lost in my own thoughts, I study the tree and think about each cut and what shape the cuts are going to produce, the direction of the new growth and the weight balance of the remaining branches. When I stand back and look at my work it is very satisfying.
The same thought goes for felling trees too, whether it needs to be dismantled or felled in one piece, looking at the surrounding space and deciding the direction of the fell, looking at the stem and deciding where to cut the hinge, the depth of the cuts. It really is brain work, and quite an adrenaline rush when it comes down. Although I am not qualified to fell large trees a similar amount of planning needs to go into the smaller trees.
Some trees have to be taken down because they are dead or diseased but sometimes it is purely because the customer no longer wishes to have them in their garden. It is a shame when this is the case. I am soon being called in to cut down a Willow that has outgrown it's space, It is not a handsome tree as it was heavily pollarded and now lacks any branches and is quite stout. But it is very nearly the same age as I am and I know I'll feel quite sorry when it crashes to the ground. The customers are planting three replacements for it in another part of the garden as their property is called Willow Farm so it needs a Willow in the garden somewhere.
I cut a dead branch off a Yew tree a few weeks back and I counted the rings on the slice nearest the stem whilst having a cup of coffee in the van and after a couple of re counts I found it was approximately 85 years old, the branch that is, not the tree! I find that an amazing thought.
I love to see the huge ancient trees. In my part of the county of Lincolnshire there are not many to be found as the land was sea in the not too distant past but I have encountered a few on my travels and they never fail to fill me with wonder, I always imagine how they have stood sentinel whilst us short lived humans have come and gone under their branches.
Here is a couple of photographs of some ancients, they are not photographs i have taken unfortunately but they are trees that I'd love to see in the flesh and spend a little time with.
Thank you for reading.
Add a Comment
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PRO Member Comment by andy@ Doughty Garden Maintenance on February 19, 2012 at 19:50 -
Thanks Brigitt,
they are great trees aren't they, I endeavor to see them in the flesh (or the bark) one day,
I have a whole list of ancient trees that i want to visit!
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Comment by Brigitt Stevenson on February 19, 2012 at 13:19 -
Imagine all the fun children can have climbing these trees, or playing 'hide and go seek', wonderful Andy !!!
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PRO Member Comment by andy@ Doughty Garden Maintenance on February 18, 2012 at 19:41 -
Thanks Rhianne, it's good to know so many people appreciate the trees,
very nice painting by the way. :-)
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Comment by Rhianne Griffiths on February 18, 2012 at 13:28 -
Great blog post Andy!
Amazing photos everyone! Duncan I'm blown away by those Kauri trees.
I'm a little obsessed with trees too. I live in a rural location surrounded by magnificent specimens. There is woodland everywhere I turn North, South, East and West. The best and probably the oldest ones I've discovered are on The Penrice Estate (if you know Gower, you know where that is).
I've spent many a happy hour painting them too!
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PRO Member Comment by andy@ Doughty Garden Maintenance on February 17, 2012 at 20:37 -
Thanks chris
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Comment by chris nangle on February 17, 2012 at 16:27 -
great stuff Andy
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PRO Member Comment by andy@ Doughty Garden Maintenance on February 15, 2012 at 22:03 -
That's amazing Duncan, really interesting, I bet they are a sight to behold!!
Bet there's not many people with a 40'000 year old keyring!!!
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PRO Member Comment by Duncan on February 15, 2012 at 20:23 -
Hi Andy, they are in Northland New Zealand, they are the mighty Kauri tree! Agathis australis.
It's an amazing wood, lightweight and the growth rings are about 1mm! Take a guess at the age, pretty old, lol! Straight as a dye up to about 20-30m from memory then the spread out into a canopy that is bursting with Epiphytes.
They blew them all to bits with dynamite about 100 - 150 years ago to make masts for ships. Damn shame. Some of the biggest were left as there was no way they'd have been able to move them.
They are well protected now and the only Kauri you can buy is what the call 'swamp Kauri' literally dug up out of the swamps with 360 excavators! The wood survives well down there with the lack of oxygen and resin content. I bought a swamp Kauri key ring, carbon dated to 40,000 years old, it maybe fell into the swamp when the tree was 500 - 1000 years old and had sat there ever since, until they dug it up at least!
They also dig up huge chunks of amber and make 'stuff' out of them. Very valuable that stuff.
They are my favourite tree I've seen so far, not anywhere as tall as the giant redwoods but they have a character all of their own, you can just imagine the dinosaurs walking round them, they've been around since the Jurassic period. There is also a Kauri museum, I'll put some pics of that up at some point, some cool stuff in there.
Love them!
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PRO Member Comment by andy@ Doughty Garden Maintenance on February 15, 2012 at 18:57 -
Hello Duncan,
Thanks for your great reply and great photo's.
Wow!! those trees are enormous! where in the world are they?
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PRO Member Comment by Duncan on February 15, 2012 at 2:09 -
Great thread!
We love trees, if only they could talk, some of them would have some stories to tell I bet.
Ever seen a ficus benjamina this size? I hadn't either, lol. That's the other half proping it up.
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/aa321/missfire1/DSCF0200.jpg
This is my favourite tree I've met, Tane Mahuta, he's a big boy! Not at big as his big brother but still a cracker. I'll try to dig out a pic of the canopy, it's on a cd somewhere, there's a whole other world up there. You can get no idea of the size of these things from these pics though. we're standing a good hundred feet away from the base.
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/aa321/missfire1/DSCF0279-1.jpg
Here's his little sister Yakas, she's only about a third of the size. Some daft woman spoiling the shot as usual.
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/aa321/missfire1/DSCF0289.jpg
There are some good sized beech around here on the estate but nothing major, still nice though. :-)
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