Contractors from Weir Forestry will be onsite on Thursday 13th and Friday 14th April to carry out the necessary tree safety work as detailed in the Tree Safety Report below.
The two mature trees (apart from the monkey puzzle) identified as Dead, Dying and/or Dangerous (DDDs) are the Monster Pine near to the Tennis Courts and the Beech at the Lily Pond. Please see our first communication of 9 March 2023 for photos and more information on why this scoping work started.
Four tree specialists were consulted (Heartwood, Robertsons, Taylor Trees and Weir Forestry) for us to understand what the options would be for these two trees. In addition surveys by an ecologist, tree surveyor and bat specialist were done on 15th March.
Beech: all specialists confirmed a crown reduction is necessary on the beech at the Lily Pond as there is the potential for it to drop branches at any time. Branch fall would finally kill the tree and potentially damage the adjacent redwood. Crown reduction could promote some regrowing from the base and would create useful habitat. Reducing the possibility of branch fall also reduces the risk to personal injury and damage to the nearby redwood.
Monster Pine: The specialists agreed that hanging dead branches on the monster pine should be removed to prevent damage to live branches, to reduce the potential for branches to fall on the public and to prevent damage to the nearby bench. The ecologist, tree surveyor and bat specialist spent some 3 hours at the monster pine completing an initial climbing and endoscope survey. They considered that one limb (teapot spout) needed to be trimmed back to leave valuable bat roost but also to reduce the possibility of branch fall on to the public. A woodpecker hole was identified and needs to be retained.
This is the report received from Heather Campbell MCIEEM, Senior Ecologist, Echoes Ecology Ltd who carried out the bat inspection:
“The feature on the beech tree is low potential as it was shallow and fully inspected so can be removed at any time.
The feature on the lower branch of the Scot’s pine couldn’t be fully inspected, however, whilst on site you removed the deadwood from the limb as required. The woodpecker hole noted higher up in the canopy is being retained and the removal of deadwood within the tree will be limited and therefore the potential for possible to disturbance to bats is low. Caution should be taken to minimise the potential for disturbing a roosting bat and so it is recommended that you use a battery-powered chainsaw to reduce noise. If at any point during the works you see a bat, all works must stop and Echoes Ecology / NatureScot contacted for advice.”
This is the Tree Safety Report by Alan Motion Tree Consulting Ltd, a Chartered Forester Arboricultural Consultant which recommended next steps to be taken on both trees to assure the long term life of both trees.
Having received these reports the necessary work is now being undertaken on both these trees across Thursday 13th and Friday 14th April by Weir Forestry.
If you have any questions on this please do email woodland@ccdt.org.uk for more information.