I am pleased to announce that I passed the Veteran Tree Specialist Consulting Level examination in October 2023. To see the full list of those who are qualified both for the Consulting and Practicing levels visit the vetcert website to download the latest pdf lists. […]
Tree Architecture
This course was fascinating, taking a deep dive into the architecture of trees in the context of veteran tree management. It was a two-day course held at the FSC Epping Forest site and led by Tom Joye of Inverde in conjunction with the Ancient Tree Forum. Tom started by introducing the concepts of tree architecture […]
Calke Abbey with Ted Green
It was a pleasure to visit Calke Abbey in Ticknall, Derby as part of the Arboricultural Association field trip linked to the 2022 Conference. It is an amazing National Trust property with stunning historic landscaped grounds and some superb veteran and ancient trees including the Old Man of Calke. Ted Green led a walk and […]
Ulmus New Horizon
Following on from the successful conference on the future of the Elm tree at Kew I decided to go and check on the progress of 15 Ulmus New Horizon that I was involved in planting in Tidworth in 2009 during my role as Tree Manager for Aspire Defence Services Limited. They were purchased from Hillier […]
The Future of the Elm Tree – Restoring Elm to the Landscape
What a fabulous in-person and online conference yesterday on the Future of the Elm tree hosted by the Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF) and supported by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and held at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The day started with an introduction from Sir Harry Studholme who set […]
General guidance for tree owners
Who has a duty of care for trees? Tree owners have a legal duty of care under the owner’s liabilities for injury to others caused by the fall of a tree or branch. The formal duties come from the Occupiers Liability Acts of 1957 and 1984. What does this mean? It means that as a […]
Fruit tree pruning
It is important to continue to maintain your fruit trees if the aim is fruit production and prune them every winter to ensure a good cycle of fruiting wood. One recent instruction I had this winter was to prune and restore around 11 community orchards which contained approximately 190 fruit trees of various varieties of […]
Replacement species for Ash
If you are having to remove Ash trees due to Ash dieback, then it is important to consider the replacement tree species to aid with future restocking. Diversity of replacement tree species is key as Ash as a species provided a diverse habitat for a wide range of species. The aim is to ensure a […]
Engaging a tree work contractor
There are many terms used by companies offering tree works. The majority operating as ‘Tree Surgeons’, ‘Arborists’ or ‘Arboriculturists’. All should be experienced to carry out works to a specification or advise on individual cases, many will provide written tree work specifications or surveys if required. Before employing a tree work contractor, you should check […]
Wildlife in Tanzania
As an Arboriculturist and Environmentalist I have a passion for trees and a fascination of nature and have been privileged to spend time travelling in many countries during my lifetime to date and see some amazing sights. It has helped me to see first hand conflicts and solutions and experience so much I wanted to […]